San Jose's wild 4-3 victory Saturday at Real Salt Lake kept potential playoff elimination away from Minnesota United, but the Loons now must do for themselves in a Sunday noon home game against Sporting Kansas City that has postseason implications for both teams.
Now even with Real Salt Lake in games played and points earned, the Loons nonetheless remain in eighth place and just out of the playoffs because of a tiebreaker with RSL, which remains in seventh place even after it squandered a game in hand Saturday.
A season after they nearly reached MLS Cup, the Loons need an attacking front four on which they've spent millions to step forth with only Sunday's game and next Sunday's Decision Day finale at the L.A. Galaxy left.
"Your big players have to come up in the big moments at this stage," Loons coach Adrian Heath said. "We certainly need our big players to come out this weekend. Hopefully, that will give us an opportunity the following week."
Heath envisioned those four players — star midfielder Emanuel Reynoso, striker Adrien Hunou, wing attackers Franco Fragapane and Robin Lod — to score at least 10 goals each while playing all season together when the team pursued Hunou and Fragapane last winter.
But prolonged negotiations delayed Hunou's arrival from France's first division and Fragapane from Argentina until May. Lod's international duty and his injuries, as well as those to Reynoso and Fragapane, kept them from all playing together. They started together twice in July and three of the last four games in October.
"We haven't played them enough [together] this year," Heath said. "I don't know how many times we've played them [together], three, four times? It's not enough when you consider before the season I had visions of all four of them getting double figures [goals]."
Lod has come the closest with eight goals scored in 19 games played. Hunou has scored six in 22 games, Fragapane and Reynoso each have scored four. Reynoso has done so in 25 games, Fragapane in 15.
"Robin is the only one close enough, but when you look at the amount of time he has missed, it's not ideal," Heath said. "But the four of them are fit and healthy now and they will go again and we'll see what happens."
Together, they scored all three goals — and Reynoso assisted on two — in a 3-2 home victory over Philadelphia that was their last victory, 11 days ago.
Ozzie Alonso's 65th-minute goal was the Loons' only one in a 1-1 draw with Los Angeles F.C. three days later. Second-half substitute Fanendo Adi's 91st-minute goal was too late three days after that in Wednesday's 2-1 loss at Vancouver.
After the Loons surrendered a long goal just before halftime, Hunou's short-range shot in the 61st minute hit the right post.
Just 80 seconds later, Whitecaps forward Brian White scored at the other end and it was 2-0.
"I did my best, but I was unlucky," Hunou said Friday. "If I score, it's 1-1. Sometimes I score, sometimes I don't score. But I do my best every time to help my teammates."
Hunou says his job — for which the MLS players union says the Loons are paying him nearly $2.6 million salary — is to score goals and by doing so, "liberate some space" for his fellow attackers.
He said they're all learning to play together by the game. It's progress Heath hoped could have come earlier this season.
"It's getting better," Hunou said.
The Loons will have starting outside backs Romain Metanire and Chase Gasper back together for the first time in four games. Heath on Friday said he's considering changing formation and personnel — including Lod possibly as a striker up front where Hunou plays — for his team's fifth game in 16 days.
"I tell you, we were disappointed in Vancouver, but we're not finished," Hunou said. "We have our destiny because we know we have two huge games and we want to play the playoffs. We are going to move forward."
