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Dayne St. Clair scored and Andrew Thomas hit the crossbar in a penalty-kick shootout that was decided by the goalkeepers, and Minnesota United staged a short-handed rally to beat the Seattle Sounders on Saturday to advance in the MLS Cup playoffs.
The game at Allianz Field in St. Paul — the rubber match of the best-of-three first-round series — was tied 3-3 after regulation. Minnesota United won the 10-round shootout, 7 to 6.
Thomas, who replaced starter Stefan Frei in the 89th minute with a shootout looming, appeared to injure a finger on a miss by Joaquín Pereyra to begin the shootout. He finished with a heavily-taped hand.
The fifth-seeded Sounders got off to an even faster start in the rubber match than they did in a 4-2 victory at home — when Obed Vargas scored in the 8th minute to give them a lead they never relinquished on Monday.
This time Albert Rusnák used assists from Danny Musovski and defender Nouhou Tolo to score in the 5th minute for a 1-0 lead. Musovski scored unassisted from the center of the box three minutes later for a two-goal lead.
Minnesota United cut it to 2-1 in the 19th minute when Pereyra scored off a set piece after a yellow card on Seattle’s Yéimar Gómez Andrade. It was Pereyra's first goal in his sixth postseason appearance.
The fourth-seeded Loons were forced to play a man down from the 41st minute on after defender Joseph Rosales was tagged with a red card for violent conduct.
Minnesota United took a 3-2 lead on short-handed goals by Jefferson Diaz in the 62nd minute and fellow defender Anthony Markanich in the 71st. Markanich subbed into the match in the 59th minute before scoring off a set piece.
Seattle failed to take advantage with an extra man until Jordan Morris scored in the 88th minute to tie it. Rusnák and Cristian Roldán had assists.
Stefan Frei finished with two saves for the Sounders.
St. Clair turned away five shots for Minnesota United, which advances to the Western Conference semifinals for the third time in club history.
English (US) ·