BLAINE, Minnesota (Sunday, July 13, 2025) - Real Monarchs (5-4-5, 22pts, 9th West) fall to Minnesota United FC 2 (7-6-2, 23 pts, 7th West) on the road at National Sports Center in a Matchweek 18 Sunday matinee.
Real Monarchs looked to bounce back from its last match, a 3-1 defeat against Western Conference leaders St Louis City 2. Entering today’s match, Head Coach Mark Lowry made three chances to his back line as Zack Farnsworth, Gio Calderon, and Wes Charpie replaced Kobi Henry, Philip Quinton, and Bode Hidalgo. RSL academy products Owen Anderson and Grayson Carter alongside returning captain Griffin Dillion replaced Real Salt Lake’s Lachlan Brook, Jesús Barea, and Ari Piol.
A match that started as a back-and-forth affair with both sides holding spells of possession, the breakthrough goal came for Real Monarchs through some beautiful teamwork to penetrate into the home side’s 18 yard box. An acrobatic block from the Minnesota defender steered the deflection directly into the path of Luca Moisa, who met the ball at its apex for a brilliant volley finish into the top right corner of the net.
Minnesota United equalized in the 59’ minute following a long low driven ball down the right side of the pitch into the feet of a wide open Troy Putt who sent in a dangerous cross across the ground to an onrushing Luke Hille for a tap in finish.
Doubling the lead, Minnesota United played two balls through the middle of the pitch directly into the feet of Loic Mesanvi who was able to finish cleanly over the outstretched leg of Will Mackay.
Minnesota held on to its advantage over the course of the final 20 minutes securing all three points for the hosts. Real Monarchs will now travel to the Evergreen State to take on Tacoma Defiance on Thursday, July 17th. The match will be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. MT.
SLC 1 : 1 MIN
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
SLC: Luca Moisa (unassisted) 33’: Ball into the box deflected out by the Minnesota defender into the stride of Moisa for a volley finish.
MIN: Luke Hille (unassisted) 59’: Long searching ball on the ground to Troy Putt who whipped in a cross that bounced around the six yard box before finding the feet of Luke Hille for the equalizer.
MIN: Loic Mesanvi (Momoh Kamara) 69’: Doubling the lead, Minnesota United went directly through the middle of the pitch carving a way through the heart of Real Monarchs to take the lead.
LINEUPS:
Real Monarchs (4-2-3-1): Will Mackay; Wes Charpie, Zack Farnsworth, Gio Calderon (Maximus Jennings 70’), Ruben Mesalles (Tommy Silva 70’); Aiden Hezarkhani, Luca Moisa (Liam O’Gara 85’), Griffin Dillion © (Antonie Riquelme 46’), Omar Marquez, Owen Anderson; Grayson Carter (Ousman Touray 51’)
Subs not used: Max Kerkvliet, Brayan Sandoval
Minnesota United FC 2 (4-3-3): Kayne Rizvanovich (Babacar Niang 46’); Troy Putt, Kipp Keller © (Carlos Casillas-Lopez 67’), Kisa Kiingi (Anderson Farris 62’), Kieran Chandler; Alisa Randell (Mubashir Nour 66’), Momoh Kamara, Keith Romanshyn, Alpha Kabia, Loic Mesanvi (Dominic Mawing 84’), Luke Hille
Subs not used: Braden Schumacher, William Schmidt, Kai Zeruhn, Issa Saidi
Stats Summary: SLC / MIN
Shots: 8 / 12
Shots on Goal: 3 / 6
Corner Kicks: 1 / 2
Fouls: 16 / 12
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
SLC: Wes Charpie (Yellow Card - 23’)
SLC: Omar Marquez (Yellow Card - 66’)
SLC: Zack Farnsworth (Yellow Card - 84’)
SLC: Zack Farnsworth (Yellow Card - 90+5’)
SLC: Zack Farnsworth (Red Card - 90+5’)
MIN: Luke Hille (Yellow Card - 90+6’)
