Minnesota United wins season finale but falls short of MLS playoff spot

Minnesota United’s late-season bid at an unlikely MLS playoff spot came up just short. Nectarios Triantis scored two goals late in the second half as Minnesota United beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 on Saturday at Allianz Field to close the season with their third straight victory. Despite the loss, San Jose (14-10-10) clinched a top-four spot in the MLS Cup playoffs. Minnesota (11-12-11) entered needing a win and some help to secure a wild card spot. They almost got it. They needed Colorado to lose, which it did to Dallas, but they also needed Seattle not to win, and the Sounders held on to beat LAFC 2-1 to keep the Loons out of the playoffs. Advertisement Tomás Chancalay tied it at 1-1 in the 57th minute for Minnesota. Chancalay raced past the defense for a through ball from Joaquín Pereyra and rolled a breakaway shot inside the far post. Minnesota took a 2-1 lead in the 82nd when Marcus Caldeira settled a ball at the back post and poked it to Triantis for a deflected shot that bounced off the post and in. Triantis received a pass near the midfield circle and took four touches to get inside the 18-yard box for a shot through the legs of a defender and under a diving Angus Gunn in stoppage time. San Jose is winless in its past eight league games against the Loons dating to a pair of 1-1 draws in 2023. The Quakes have failed to score two goals in any game during the stretch.