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Loons to miss Dayne St. Clair and others for handful of upcoming matches

andy greder, pioneer press
·3 min read

Minnesota United might be without starting goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair for its next five MLS matches.

On Monday, St. Clair was called into Canada’s men’s national team for the Concacaf Gold Cup on June 27. The Loons return to MLS action against Real Salt Lake in Utah on Saturday night.

Depending on how deep of a run Canada makes in the continental tournament, St. Clair could miss all Loons games through July 15.

Backup Clint Irwin will be asked to fill in for St. Clair. Irwin has started one MLS game this season, while St. Clair was with Canada in March, and allowed a very late goal in a 1-1 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps. He also has started three U.S. Open Cup matches, conceding a total of eight goals, but had two big penalty kick saves to beat Philadelphia in the national tournament.

Loons winger Joseph Rosales also will be away with the Honduran national team for the Gold Cup, but MNUFC central midfielder and fellow countryman Kervin Arriaga was not called up. MNUFC fullback Kemar Lawrence was called into Jamaica’s team for the Gold Cup, and MNUFC2 midfielder Molik Jesse Khan received an invitation to Trinidad and Tobago’s team.

MNUFC must wait on fullback Zarek Valentin’s availability over the next few weeks because Puerto Rico still has a Gold Cup qualifier against Martinique in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Tuesday night. If Puerto Rico wins, the Loons will be without Valentin for at least a group stage that runs into early July. Puerto Rico plays the U.S. on July 2.

It’s unclear if Loons attacker Bongi Hlongwane will remain away with the South African national team beyond this past week. South Africa is playing in the COSAFA Cup group stage on July 5, 8 and 11.

Pukki contributing

Loons targeted signing Teemu Pukki produced two assists in Finland’s 2-0 win over Slovenia in a European Championship qualifier on Friday. Then he scored one goal in a 30-minute shift during a 6-0 rout of San Marino in a Euro qualifier Monday.

In early June, the objective was for Pukki to travel to Minnesota after serving his international duty and work toward signing a contract with MNUFC. The forward might be eligible to make his Loons debut against Austin FC on July 8.

Racial incident

Loons center back Michael Boxall was “racially abused” during the first half of New Zealand’s exhibition match against Qatar in Austria on Monday, the Kiwi team’s Twitter account said.

New Zealand said “no official action was taken (over the alleged incident) so the team have agreed to not come out for the second half of the match.”

Boxall, one of New Zealand’s veteran leaders, is expected to return to Minnesota this week.

MNUFC2 shutout

The Loons’ developmental team had been giving up a ton of goals this season, but it tightened up in MNUFC2’s 2-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps 2 on Sunday in Blaine.

Emmanuel Iwe and Kameron Lacey each scored for Minnesota, while goalkeeper Alec Smir returned from a loan with Colorado Springs Switchbacks to produce a clean sheet in his first match for MNUFC2 this season.

MNUFC2 (5-5-3) has scored at least one goal goal in a team record 13 consecutive matches this season.

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