August 21, 2022 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro) – Minnesota United FC 2 News Release
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — MNUFC2 continues its home stretch as it welcomes the Real Monarchs to the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine, Minnesota Sunday night. The Loons are riding a wave of momentum into Sunday’s match following last week’s 2-1 victory over the top team in the Western Conference, the Tacoma Defiance. Goals from midfielders Aziel Jackson and Sagir Arce helped move Minnesota up a spot into sixth in the conference standings ahead of Sunday’s contest against the Utah squad.
On the opposing end, the Real Monarchs make the trip to Blaine having recorded zero wins on the road during the 2022 campaign. Meanwhile, MNUFC2 looks to capitalize on that, continuing its three-match unbeaten streak and improving upon the 5-2-1 home record. Aziel Jackson currently leads MLS Next Pro in key passes made with 49 to-date, while the Loons are tied for first with St. Louis CITY2 in the same category with 203 total chances created. With so many opportunities to score, Minnesota hopes to continue that success against the Monarchs on Sunday. Forward Tommy Williamson could be the benefactor of those chances against the Salt Lake City side, as he leads MNUFC2 in goals scored to-date with nine. Defensively, the Loons back line has another chance to showcase its grit to help secure another victory at home and three points towards the playoffs push.
MATCH NOTES:
MNUFC2 hosts the Real Monarchs at the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine, Minnesota. The game starts at 8:00 p.m. CT, and can be viewed by streaming at www.mlsnextpro.com.
Cameron Knowles on the defensive performances from his squad…
“Often times when we talk about defending, we talk about defenders, we talk about attacking, we talk about tactics, but we know those are collective efforts from the whole team. And today, a lot of the defending we talked about was our front half defending and how our attacking group is setting up to make everything predictable for the players behind them. When we looked at Tacoma [Defiance], they convert almost 48 percent of their chances; they have a really high conversion rate. We knew that we had to limit their chances, so that was going to take a collective effort. The guys in the front half of the team did a really good job of making it predictable, then the guys in the back half made some really big plays. Nabi [Kibunguchy] and Jason [Ramos] and Carlos [Leatherman], Dev [Devin…
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