A first-half Emanuel Reynoso goal from the spot put the Loons up 1-0 in the 37th minute, but a second half Minnesota collapse would give the hosting Revs a 2-1 win in New England Sunday afternoon.
A dominant first 45 saw the Loons in high spirits as they headed into the break, boasting a 1.22 XG at halftime with the narrow lead. In comparison, the Revs went into their locker room with a .04 XG and zero shots on target. It was truly a dominant performance, especially on the road against the 2021 Supporter’s Shield winners.
Then, the collapse.
Dylan Borrero leveled the match in the 53rd minute with a goal that Dayne St. Clair will want to forget, then a magical free kick from Gustavo Bou gave the home side the lead.
The winning strike curled past the MNUFC wall and into the top corner of the net; truly a magical strike.
Minnesota’s second half XG stood at just .1, with the Loons attack seemingly not clicking over the final 45. They outshot the Revs 13 to 11, with 6 of Minnesota’s strikes hitting the target in comparison to the home side’s 2.
The breakdown led to MNUFC dropping points for the third-straight match in all competitions, and now, they’ve only managed to take three points in one of their last five matches. For Heath, it’s a match that he dubbed to be “very disappointing,” but also sees it as a “lucky three points” for the Revs. Regardless, though, he expects more from his side.
“Well, obviously on the road you are up one-nil the game is never won, we know that. I spoke to them at half time – I did say to the players, I expect a better New England team in the second half and I think they were better. I think their bigger players, the likes of [Carles] Gil and [Gustavo] Bou had a bit more of an influence on their team,” Heath said. “But, I look at the general overall play and I’m not sure – Dayne’s [St. Clair] had a lot to do, in general – but I just think it’s one of those games that we’ll look back at and think we should’ve taken something from that game.”
Loons Defender DJ Taylor stated his dismay on the performance postgame, adding that the entire locker room even felt like three points were dropped.
“Definitely disappointed. It’s a tough one to swallow. I think we came here and played really well, especially the first half. I thought we were in control for most of the game. It kind of feels we kind of just let them back into the game,” Taylor said. “I think regarding our performances, we definitely should’ve got three points from this.”
For Taylor, this three-match road stretch is “defining” of their season, and if they don’t figure out how to turn things around, they could face the consequences in the long run.
“Tuesday when we get back at it everybody’s with this winning mentality because we know we have a tough stretch. This tough stretch will define our season, so it’s kind of win or go home at this point mentality. That’s the main thing we are going to focus on is just keep working together and creating that killer mentality, especially in the final third as well.”
With one match down and two to go until they return home to Allianz Field, there’s consistency yet to be found for the Loons. Minnesota have not had a true striker score a goal in MLS play since March 19th – Luis Amarilla’s lone goal in a 1-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. Attackers Abu Danladi, Reynoso and Lod have found the back of the net since then, but the Loons pair of Designated Player strikers in Amarilla and Adrien Hunou cannot seem to buy a goal.
Now, their June 25th contest against a struggling Inter Miami side presents the best opportunity possible for them to regain their confidence and put in a full shift – for the entire 90.
Jeremy Rushing 
Dominic Jose Bisogno