For once, Minnesota United FC's defense was the star.
Or rather, was the star for a positive reason.
After starting off its inaugural Major League Soccer season giving up a record number of goals — 18 in its first four matches alone — the Loons recorded their first-ever clean sheet with a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.
An announced 17,491 fans watched the shutout, down from the 17,728 who watched the team's first victory April 1 and the 35,043 who came to the home opener March 12.
United (2-4-2) has gone 148 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, stretching back to late in the first half of last weekend's match.
"I just said to them there, you've had a lot of criticism, and the one area of our team which has had a lot of praise is our attacking play. I thought it was reversed today," coach Adrian Heath said. "Our front four were not as good as they have been in combination play and just being a threat. … But I was pleased for the defenders … for them to get a clean sheet and defend the box the way they did at the end of the game.
"Sometimes you get scrappy 1-nil wins. I've played in games where you don't really deserve anything. And it's probably the worst we've been attacking since the opening day of the season.
"But we got the result there I think the players deserve."
Both teams had several near misses, but United finally converted in the 72nd minute against Colorado (1-4-1). Ibson crashed a shot off the post, and Johan Venegas headed the ball back toward the face of the goal where winger Miguel Ibarra made a diving header to score.
"We couldn't catch a break, so just getting that goal just gave us an extra breath there," Ibarra said of his first MLS goal. "Most important for us was getting the shutout. We knew if we get the shutout, we either get the point or we get three."
Working on the defense has been a strong focus at practice for a while now, with defending the box and crossing emphasized this past week. And the team was able to preserve the clean sheet despite center back Brent Kallman leaving the match in the 66th minute, in favor of Jermaine Taylor, because of a calf injury. Kallman described it as just a "knock" and said he mostly has been dealing with a lingering hip injury and didn't want to aggravate that more.
Heath also subbed on an extra defender, Justin Davis, in the 84th minute.
"I think the team as a whole worked really, really hard tonight to get numbers behind the ball and close down the ball and get blocks in," United goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth said. "We've been working on our shape pretty tirelessly in training, and the coaches have really been harping on it, obviously, because we've been conceding goals. So it feels good for the group to kind of dig in. And I'm sure everyone feels how gratifying it is to be consistently putting in that work and finally see some results."
Well, United can enjoy some instant gratification just from the current standings: The team is just one point out of playoff contention, sitting at eighth in the Western Conference.
