Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath kept the faith both early and late in Saturday night's 1-0 loss to defending MLS champions New York City FC, but never found the elusive goal he and his team sought.
The Loons had back-to-back short-range scoring chances in the game's fourth minute and opportunities again just after halftime and into the final minutes and stoppage time.
None of their 12 shots — four on target — could stop NYCFC and goalkeeper Sean Johnson from producing their sixth consecutive shutout. Or extending their unbeaten streak in MLS and U.S. Open Cup competitions to 11 in a row, dating to an April 6 loss at Seattle.
NYCFC defender Alexander Callens' rising corner-kick header, pounded into the grass and past Loons keeper Dayne St. Clair in the 29th minute, stood as the winner the rest of the night.
NYCFC became just the fourth team in MLS history to deliver six consecutive shutouts. The last team to do so was the LA Galaxy, from the end of the 2009 regular season to the beginning of the 2010 season.
"They're top in the East for a reason and they're MLS champions for a reason," St. Clair said.
NYCFC lead the Eastern Conference by a point and are second only to Los Angeles FC in the Supporters Shield chase.
"They're very difficult to play against," Heath said. "They've got some really good technicians. They've got some pace. They've got some real brains in the middle. Their keeper, he has come up with some plays when he had to, too. If you look at the disappointment, the opportunities we had, we should score."
Heath praised his players' effort as they head to a three-week MLS schedule break because of FIFA's June international window, even if they never converted one of what Heath called many "golden" opportunities.
"I thought we would score," Heath said. "When I look back at the amount of opportunities we had, maybe that's a disappointment."
Heath said he and team staff will consider two open roster spots they have because of Hassani Dotson's season-ending injury and the Chase Gasper trade during the break, with the next transfer window approaching in July.
"I think there's going to have to be some tough decisions made, for sure," Heath said. "We've got an opportunity to freshen things up if we want to and we have some big decisions."
His Loons enter the break 5-6-3 for 18 points, which puts them eighth in a 14-team Western Conference that will qualify eight teams for the playoffs.
Saturday's loss was their fourth game in which they have not scored this season.
Johnson denied Loons star midfielder Emanuel Reynoso's right-footed shot and Franco Fragapane missed an open goal to the left in the fourth minute. Defender Brent Kallman's corner-kick header banged the back post in the 35th minute, just six minutes after Callens scored.
"It seems to be a trend for us, where we start fast, right?" Loons defensive midfielder Wil Trapp said. "The first three, four minutes was like onslaught. They made some good saves. We should probably hit the target on a couple of them. They had a couple half-chances but not much except for the set-piece goal. It's a little frustrating that we concede on something we know they're good at, which is set pieces."
His team trailing 1-0, Heath made a halftime substitution by removing right-wing attacker Bongokuhle Hlongwane and sending on striker Luis Amarilla. By doing so, Heath also tweaked his starting formation, switching from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 that moved starting striker Robin Lod to fill space in the midfield with Reynoso and Fragapane.
Heath had put leading scorer Lod back in the starting 11 and Reynoso back in his playmaking midfield goal after making five lineup changes to start Wednesday's 2-1 knockout loss to third-division Union Omaha in a U.S. Open Cup round of 16 game.
Midfielder Joseph Rosales and center back Kallman went into the 11 for midfielder Kervin Arriaga and defender Michael Boxall.
BOXSCORE: NYCFC 1, Minnesota United 0
Both Arriaga and Boxall were suspended for the game for yellow card accumulation after last Sunday's victory.
St. Clair is seeking the third and final goalkeeper spot on a Canada team that is World Cup bound for the first time since 1986. Boxall's New Zealand team is playing Costa Rica in a winner-take-all World Cup qualifier for a trip to Qatar in November.
Lod also is off to play for Finland, Arriaga for Honduras and Hlongwane for South Africa. Recent MNUFC2 signee Molik Jesse Khan will play for Trinidad and Tobago..
