A controversial last-minute goal saw Ottawa Fury FC drop the team's first-ever home match 2-1 against Minnesota United FC in front of 3,400-plus fans Saturday at Carleton University.

While Ottawa striker Vini Dantas -- once again playing in place of the injured Tom Heinemann -- scored the first-ever goal in Fury FC history, heading home a perfect pass by midfielder Tony Donatelli, Minnesota managed to put a last-second dagger in the hearts of the home team and its fans.

A Fury foul in the seventh minute of stoppage time in the second half allowed Minnesota's Christian Ramirez to knock home the winner. It was a devastating break for the Fury on a couple fronts.

Not only did it appear Ottawa goalkeeper Devala Gorrick was fouled on the play leading to the winning goal, it was scored in the seventh minute of injury time after the referee had earlier indicated there would be only six extra minutes of play.

It's an unwritten rule in soccer that if officials call a foul at the tail end of stoppage time, they will allow one final play. But head coach Marc Dos Santos thought the the game should have ended before the foul was called to begin with.

"It's very hard," said Dos Santos of giving up the late winner. "We feel like we came back in the second half with a lot of energy.

"Playing after the time (expired), that's what upsets me."

Dantas said while scoring a goal in a losing cause is bittersweet, couldn't hide his excitement at scoring the Fury's first goal at home.

"I was able to see the ball flying over me and (Donatelli) taking a touch, and then I saw the space ... and he was able to deliver the ball on the money," the Brazilian said after the match. "To be able to score the first-ever goal at home in front of this amazing crowd, it was an amazing feeling. I'm very happy about it."

Fury captain Richie Ryan, who turned in another strong showing, was dejected following the loss. Every player, him included, wanted to give the fans a win in the first match.

"I suppose this is all a little bit of a learning curve for a new group, but I'd like to see (the team) learn sooner rather than later," he said.

Ryan said there's no time to dwell on the loss.

"We've got to get on with it, we've got a big game Wednesday night (at home versus Edmonton FC)," he said. "We know and believe in ourselves that we can come out and win Wednesday."

The Fury started the game cautiously, aware they were playing a strong squad in Minnesota and not wanting to make mistakes early.

"Minnesota is one of the best teams in the league and we knew that," said Dos Santos. "I think we respected them ... way too much."

That changed after the intermission, with Ottawa coming out firing and getting a goal.

"When you break the ice and you start growing in the game, you feel 'hey, we can play against these guys,'" the coach said.

There was a scary moment in the 54th minute as Ottawa defender Omar Jarun got kicked in the head by Minnesota's Cristian Dias. The foul left Jarun writhing in pain in Ottawa's penalty box, while Dias received a yellow card. Jarun, who played a strong game for Ottawa, was replaced by fellow defender Andres Fresenga.

The Fury was already without Heinemann, Nicki Paterson and Sinisa Ubiparipovic due to injury and losing Jarun for any length of time would be a huge blow to the defensive corp of the team. His status was not immediately known but the injury likely makes him questionable for Wednesday's match against Edmonton.

Twitter: @chrishofley