FRISCO, TEXAS – Banished Monday to an offseason that's longer than usual this time, Minnesota United takes with it the bitterness of a playoff penalty-kick loss after it played FC Dallas to a 1-1 draw over 120-plus minutes at sold-out Toyota Stadium.
Third-seeded Dallas beat the sixth-seeded Loons 5-4 on those penalty kicks after veteran midfielder Wil Trapp was stopped on his team's second of five penalty kicks and goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair couldn't stop any of the home team's five chances.
"Football is a cruel game sometimes," Loons coach Adrian Heath said. "We've all been there. We've all scored, we've all missed them. You feel as though it's the end of the world, but it's not and tomorrow you'll feel a little bit better."
Dallas travels just down I-35 this weekend to play Austin FC in the MLS Cup playoffs' next round while the Loons face a winter made longer by this current season moved up to accommodate next month's World Cup.
The same Loons team that went 8-1-2 in mid-summer also was 1-6-1 down the stretch into and after Monday's playoff opener. They've now reached the playoffs four consecutive seasons, but have advanced from the first round just once.
"Had we not limped into the playoffs here, maybe we're hosting a playoff game and it's a different story," Trapp said. "We wanted more, we didn't get more and now we have to wait until next year. It's crazy. You play for eight, nine months and you play one game —120 minutes and penalties — and it doesn't go your way. That's football."
Heath praised his players for their collective defensive shape and discipline.
"I can't fault the players," Heath said. "When it comes down to penalties, there's going to be a winner and there's going to be a loser. Somebody's going to be a hero and there's going to be somebody who think he has had the worse evening of his life. It never is, trust me. We've all been on the good side and we've all been on the bad side, but it's still never easy to take."
