Minnesota United star midfielder Emanuel Reynoso played all of Saturday's second half in Montreal out of necessity rather than by the plan to increase his minutes and improve his conditioning.
By the time he came on, the Loons already trailed 2-0 after surrendering two goals in the first 13 minutes of a 4-0 loss.
"It was because I wasn't seeing what I wanted in the first half," Loons coach Adrian Heath said.
By the time Heath called upon Reynoso, Heath had seen his team concede what he called two "poor" goals against a CF Montreal team that lost 2-1 in an emotional Canadian championship game Wednesday at Vancouver, then flew through four time zones to play again three days later.
Former Loons first-round draft pick Mason Toye delivered a brace in his first game back from early April knee surgery, scoring his team's first goal in the seventh minute and its third in the 56th minute. The former goal was his first since June 29, 2022.
In between, defender Zachary Brault-Gillard scored Montreal's second goal, in just the 13th minute. Montreal (7-9-1) added a 76th-minute goal on a night its 125-year-old, 1500-pound North Star bell rang in the city of churches five times, one for each goal and the fifth for victory.
Heath had hoped to play Reynoso more than the 24 minutes he played in his season debut last week against Toronto FC, but fewer than a full 45 after halftime.
That is until Toye made a zig-zag run with the ball from 25 yards out and chipped a left-footed shot from 15 yards away that Loons defender DJ Taylor closed hard on but got just enough of the ball to deflect over goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.
Not long after, Brault-Gillard's run behind the Loons' backline was rewarded with a 30-yard, cross-field pass that he banged past St. Clair with Taylor again unsuccessfully in pursuit.
Toye scored again in the 56th minute on a short-range rebound after St. Clair already had made one goal-saving stop.
"We've conceded poor goals — the first two especially — but in between that we played really, really well," Heath said. "I know some people who hadn't watched the game might not think that, but that's the case. I think we had better chances than they had tonight."
When the Loons (5-7-5) did have scoring chances, as striker Mender Garcia did with his team trailing 2-0 in the first half, they didn't convert.
Garcia whiffed at the ball 12 yards from an open goal after Bongokuhle Hlongwane made a perfect set-up pass.
"He's obviously lacking a little bit of confidence, the swing and the miss," Heath said. "I want all the players to do well, but if changing something will help us get back in the game, that's what you do."
So Heath sent Reynoso in for Garcia after halftime, even though it hadn't been the plan. Reynoso hit the crossbar with a shot and provided a pulse for an offense that still couldn't score a goal.
"If you ask him, he probably thinks he should have started, but we have to think of the big picture as well," Heath said. "He has some great moments. We have two big weeks (off) now with Rey. He's getting closer and closer and now we need to get some heavy work into him, especially this week."
The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.
