Minnesota United look to continue surge vs. Earthquakes

Two teams eager to continue their opening-week momentum will meet Saturday when the Minnesota United head back to the West Coast to visit the San Jose Earthquakes.

Minnesota United (1-0-0, 3 points) showed their willingness to push forward in a season-opening 3-1 road victory against the Portland Timbers last weekend.

Kevin Molino recorded two goals for the Loons, Luis Amarilla put home the go-ahead score in the 76th minute and Ethan Finlay was a key playmaker in all three scores as Minnesota United won their season opener for the second consecutive season.

It was the first time in MLS history a road team won the season opener at Portland.

"It's early in the season, things aren't always the prettiest sometimes," Finlay said, according to mlssoccer.com. "We had some sloppy moments maybe in the first half and then we kinda figured it out and started to really settle in and take advantage of them on the counterattack and were very clinical. Really happy with the start from all phases."

At face value, San Jose's 2-2 draw with Toronto FC was not exactly the ideal start, but it still managed to be a positive for the team after a late rally. Toronto FC took a 2-0 lead in the 51st minute before the Earthquakes (0-0-1, 1 point) put things together on offense.

Andres Rios scored in the 53rd minute before Oswaldo Ananis came through in the fifth minute of stoppage time to tie it in dramatic fashion. Alanis' bending free kick from a sharp angle found the upper-left corner of the net to start a wild celebration.

"You always think about scoring every single time, and that everything turns out well," said Alanis, who is on a one-year loan from Chivas de Guadalajara in Mexico.

"I had the instinct of shooting it to the second post, and also hoped that maybe someone could kick it in if my shot was off. But in the end, everything turned out well."

--Field Level Media