Shea Salinas picked up his 50th assist for the San Jose Earthquakes against Minnesota FC at Allianz Stadium in St Paul on Sat Jul 3, 2021 (@SJEarthqukes photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

ST PAUL—The San Jose Earthquakes used some late match magic from one of their young forwards to earn a 2-2 draw with Minnesota FC on Saturday evening at Allianz Stadium.

Benji Kinkanovic scored his first career MLS goal in the 82nd minute as San Jose escaped the Twin Cities with a point. While it snapped their two-game losing streak, the Quakes are still winless in its last eight games. Minnesota is undefeated in its last seven games (4-0-3) and have conceded only four goals in that stretch.

Shea Salinas setup Kikanovic just outside the box on the left side. The rookie, who came in as a substitute in the 73rd minute, dribbled past two defenders before roofing a shot into the upper center of the net past Minnesota FC goalie Tyler Miller. Kikanovic scored his first goal for San Jose in just his fourth appearance for the club.

“Yeah, we were actually down 2-1. He just told me to keep attacking, go forward, don’t try to play back, but keep it simple. Once I came in, I was just kind of waiting for my opportunity. Obviously, Shea [Salinas] was on the left and I just tucked in a little bit. He found me and I saw open space and was like, ‘Alright I’m going to take it. Either he’s going to foul me in the box and we’ll get a PK or I’m going to score,’ and I just happened to score,” Kikanovic said.

San Jose (3-7-2) drew first blood early in the first half. Cristian Espinoza pick-pocketed the ball away from Bakaye Dibassy. Espinoza dribbled into the middle of the before finding a wide open Cade Cowell who one-timed the ball into an empty net. It marked Cowell’s team-leading fourth goal of the season.

“I think as a young player, it’s not easy playing in these types of matches,” said Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda on the team’s youth scoring both goals of the match. “I have always debuted young players, and there are moments for them to play, and moments when they don’t play. Today, we were forced to play them because that is our reality. It makes me happy to see them progress rapidly. When they have 50 appearances with the senior team, I think then they will be ready to execute what I ask from them.”

Minnesota FC (4-4-3) answered back in the final seconds of stoppage time in the first half. Off a corner kick, Franco Fragapane volleyed the ball back into the center of the box with a bicycle kick. Brent Kallman out battled Tyler Beason and in one motion kicked a left-footed shot from a tough angle past Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski for his first goal of the season.

The home team seized the momentum from the late first half goal and carried it into the start of the second half. They had three scoring chances inside a minute from the 52nd-53rd minute which included Fragapane’s left footed shot hitting the post.

Minnesota FC drew a penalty kick when Judson took down Chase Gasper inside the box in the 64th minute. A VAR review of the play confirmed the penalty. Ramon Abila’s initial penalty kick was saved by Marcinowski but Abila cleaned up the rebound for his second goal of the season a minute later.

The Quakes almost pulled off the upset in the third minute of stoppage time when Orlando Alanis’s free kick from right side hit off the post.

Marcinkowski finished the match with three saves on five shots. Miller made one save on three shots.

Nathan Cardosa, known simply as Nathan, made his MLS debut for San Jose since the team acquired the Brazilian center back from Swiss club FC Zurich and signed him to a three-year contract (2021-23) with a club option for 2024 using Targeted Allocation on June 25th. Nathan started in the back four and played all 90 minutes.

“Some ties can be a good thing,” said Nathan after playing in his first MLS match. “I think we should be pleased with the result on the road. I’m pleased with my performance, but I am not yet in sync with the team. Before these next few matches, I will work to improve and get better. I think I will be at 100 percent very soon.”

GAME NOTES: San Jose had four corner kicks. Minnesota FC had seven.

The Quakes are now 4-3-1 all-time vs. Minnesota, including a 2-1-1 away record.

San Jose became the first team to score 2+ goals vs. Minnesota since May 8, snapping a streak of six matches with one or fewer conceded.

Cowell scored his fifth goal of his MLS career. He has now scored in each of the last two matches.

Espinoza tallied an assist on Cowell’s goal, marking his third assist of the season and 25th of his MLS career. Espinoza is now in sole possession of 10th place on the team’s all-time assists leaderboard.

Salinas tallied an assist on Kikanovic’s goal, marking his second assist of the season and 53rd of his MLS career. It also marked his 50th assist with the Earthquakes, extending his club assists record.

Marcinkowski made his 12th start of the season, the most starts he’s made in a single season in his MLS career.

Cowell (17 years and 263 days) and Kikanovic (21 years and 179 days), the Earthquakes’ two goal-scorers tonight, have a combined age of 19 years and 226 days.

UP NEXT: The Quakes return to action when they face the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, July 17. The match kicks off from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park at 6:00pm.