Minnesota United international Robin Lod has scored enough goals that he has his post-goal theatrics near perfect by now.
He showed it again on Saturday in a 2-0 victory over Houston at Allianz Field that teammate Brent Kallman clinched with a 71st-minute goal celebrated more conventionally.
The Loons now are unbeaten in their past five games and have gone 13 games with just one loss, thanks to a 7-1-5 record since mid-May.
It includes Saturday's victory that coach Adrian Heath called "workmanlike" after his team followed a bitter draw with a three-point game that put the Loons fifth in the Western Conference.
Lod mimes pulling back a bow – a nod to his first name and some fellow named Robin Hood – after every goal he scores.
This season, that's six goals and counting after he gave his team a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 14th minute.
"I'll never get bored of people celebrating goals, for sure," Heath said.
Lod pulled back and fired his imaginary arrow toward supporters in the stadium's north end. He did so after he followed defensive midfielder Wil Trapp's strike from distance that Houston's goalkeeper Marko Maric stopped but couldn't hold.
Lod was there promptly and directed it into an open net with his dominant left foot before off he went to fling his arrow.
Maybe his imagination gives Kallman some inspiration.
Kallman celebrated his 71st-minute goal more conventionally, by letting the Loons' merry men mob him beyond the end line. They did so after Kallman created just enough separation from a Houston defender to flick on Emanuel Reynoso's right-side corner kick struck with some impressive pace.
Kallman scored two goals in his first four MLS seasons. Now he has two since he replaced injured starter Michael Boxall on the team's defensive back line during a July 3 game against San Jose.
Afterward, Kallman was asked if he can be called a goal scorer now.
"Not yet," he said. "But I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good. It felt really good."
Heath wasn't about to argue about calling Kallman a scorer now.
"That might be stretching it, but hey, he's a big boy," Heath said. "I always say Rey puts so much pace on it, if you can get in front of your marker then chances are it's going to end up in the back of the net."
Kallman did and so did the ball, just as Kallman envisioned when he drove to the stadium Saturday afternoon thinking about how Houston defends corner kicks man-to-man.
"That's very difficult to defend that way," Kallman said. "You can make a break and get half-yard of space you need. I just made a break from my guy, maybe got a couple feet and that's all I needed to redirect it."
Lod and Kallman provided the only goals needed. Starting goalkeeper Tyler Miller delivered the clean sheet with a crucial foot save he made and an inadvertent one that went off the crossbar and then his face before it went out of bounds.
The face save came on Houston midfielder Matias Vera's strike that went by Miller and came right back at him.
"I got fortunate: It went off my face and went wide," Miller said. "It would have been worse if it hit off my face and went in."
Miller stuck out his foot and stopped Vera again in the 65th minute, with the Loons still leading 1-0.
"That's why I'm there," Miller said. "I might not be called to make six or seven saves. The game could be 1-1 and who knows where it goes from there. I was glad I could contribute and make an important save."
