Aaron Schoenfeld returns stateside, helps close out Loons win

Newly signed Minnesota United striker Aaron Schoenfeld returned to MLS action Sunday in Portland, four years after he left home and the league to play in Israel, never intending he'd be away so long.

"I went with a carry-on suitcase," he said, "and I ended up living out of it for six months."

He bought a bigger suitcase and decided to stay after he scored 10 goals in his first 11 games with an Israeli team that sold him across town to the historic club Maccabi Tel Aviv after his first season there.

That's where Schoenfeld remained for three more seasons, in a country where his Jewish heritage allowed him the "right to return" and an Israeli passport. He played with a team that competed in Europa League and Champions League play before he decided it was time to return home to a league transformed since he last played with new United teammate Ethan Finlay in Columbus in 2015.

"The league has grown so much, four years, it's crazy to think," he said.

On Sunday, Schoenfeld came on in the 86th minute for Luis Amarilla. United coach Adrian Heath called to the bullpen for the big righthander — all 6-4 of him — to help close a 3-1 lead, using his hold-up play, ability to drop back and defend pockets between the opponent's lines, and size to play in the air at both ends.

In stoppage time, he kept the ball from two Timbers in a corner, killing time before he forced a corner kick for his team.

"I don't really know where time went," said Schoenfeld, who turns 30 next month. "It's really scary when you think that four years can go by in the blink of an eye. I'm just happy to be back."

When he and Finlay first played together in Columbus in 2012, MLS players made a fraction of the millions plenty make now.

"I think our highest salary in Columbus was $250,000," he said. "It's crazy to think what eight or nine years can do for a league, amazing to see what happened with this last (collective bargaining agreement) and what's to come in the future."

Schoenfeld returned with his game developed against high-level European competition and his mind matured after United last month traded a 2021 second-round pick to Columbus for his rights.

"Going to a foreign country, being on your own, everyone you love and care about 7,000 miles away, a seven-hour time change, it forced me to grow up a lot," Schoenfeld said. "I didn't speak Hebrew at the time. It just forced you to realize other cultures exist and you adapt."

He comes back grown up, yet in many ways unchanged, in Finlay's estimation.

"He's the same old guy," Finlay said. "He's still baby-faced, so I couldn't tell you he got any older. But I think there's a sign of maturity he has. He has always been a pretty composed guy in the box, good finish. He's going to give us something different offensively and defensively."

Heath calls Amarilla an "all-around player," second-year striker Mason Toye "young and athletic" and Schoenfeld "different" from the other two.

"He's going to want to play every game, but he is a really good alternative if we want to bring him off the bench," Heath said. "When it's late, it's tight and teams bunker in, I think he'll be a big difference maker in that aspect."

Schoenfeld played the closer role his last season in Columbus, four long years ago during which so much has changed in himself and MLS.

"I think I can do more than close," he said. "I think I have really good hold-up play, I'm good on set pieces, finishing. I can grind the game out. Right now, wait for an opportunity. We'll see."