MNUFC2 at Timbers2 Preview
September 11, 2022 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro) – Minnesota United FC 2 News Release
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. – MNUFC2 hits the road for its penultimate match of the 2022 regular season as it faces Timbers2 in Oregon on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. CT. Minnesota enters the contest following a hard-fought 2-1 defeat to North Texas SC last Saturday in Saint Paul, where midfielder Aziel Jackson scored the Loons’ lone goal. Following that defeat, MNUFC2 was eliminated from MLS NEXT Pro playoffs contention.
Timbers2 and MNUFC2 have met just once this season in July when the Portland side traveled to Minnesota. The Loons saw three goals scored by three different players: Justin McMaster, Aziel Jackson and Tommy Williamson all found the back of the net during the 3-1 victory over Timbers2. Notably, McMaster and Jackson each provided the assist for each other’s goal.
MNUFC2 currently sits in sixth in the Western Conference with 33 points. Their Oregon opponents stand in last in the West with nine points. The Loons have scored 38 goals compared to Timbers2’s 23 tallies to-date. Of note, the Portland side’s sole victory on the season came at home against Houston Dynamo 2 back in June.
MATCH NOTES:
MNUFC2’s match notes can be downloaded HERE.
MNUFC2 travels to face Timbers2 at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Oregon. Kick is set for 8:00 p.m. CT and the match can be viewed by streaming at www.mlsnextpro.com.
Cameron Knowles on a week of training ahead of the Timbers2 contest Sunday…
“It’s been a good week of training. Obviously, there was disappointment with the guys in terms of how that [North Texas SC] result went, but we’re looking forward to the last two matches of the season and in particular, our last road game. The spirit in training was great.”
Cameron Knowles on how the team approaches the final two matches of the season…
“It’s several things. Obviously as a team we’ve got six points to play for and we’ll be disappointed if we don’t get all six. We want to finish as high as we can on the table and we’ve got the opportunity to potentially finish in fifth, right now we’re in sixth. That would be ideal. From an individual standpoint, we expect and would like to see these guys improve week to week and that progress throughout the season. So, for two more 90-minute matches to be played out and to see continual growth and development in those players, we need to see that. We can’t just sit there and base success and failure just on making the playoffs or missing the playoffs. There’s a lot of positive stuff that has happened with some of the individuals on the team and we will always shoot to be a team that wins and a team that makes the playoffs. But, we do need to see some good individual performances. And for me, this is a big test of our character as a team as much as it is our quality, to see how we bounce back and how we push through these last two games.”
Cameron Knowles on the emphasis of players keeping a fight and hunger through Timbers2 and Earthquakes II…
“We need to have it [hunger] for every match, all 24 matches, and this is a challenging time. We have the disappointment and the easy thing to do is to switch off and let that get the better of you. We’ve talked a lot with the players about their character is under the spotlight and we have to show how much desire and how much we want these two games, how much we want to play well and how much we want the three points out of it.”
Cameron Knowles on facing Timbers2 and how MNUFC2 can leave with a positive result…
“Look, we’ve got to take our chances. The last game, we created 25 scoring opportunities and we didn’t put enough of those away. So, we’ve got to take our chances and be clinical in front of goal against a team that I think has way more talent than their position on the table suggests. If we fall asleep, they’ll punish us. It showed in the last time we played them. They had the ability to get back into the game and make it difficult. So, we’ve got to take care of our chances, stay on the front foot, keep being aggressive and really put them under pressure.”
MNUFC2 at TIMBERS2
HILLSBORO STADIUM | HILLSBORO, OREGON
09.11.22 | MLS NEXT PRO Regular Season | Week 23
8:00 p.m. CT (mlsnextpro.com)
2022 Record
MIN: 8-9-5 (3-5-3 on the road)
POR: 1-17-3 (1-7-1 at home)
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