Minnesota pressed the attack away from home to earn its first point of the MLS era in Colorado this past Saturday. Here is what Head Coach Adrian Heath had to say following the match along with MNUFC Man of the Match Brent Kallman and goalscorer Christian Ramirez.

Head Coach Adrian Heath

Thoughts on the match…

I can’t praise the players enough for their attitude. They dug in, it’s tough, it’s not easy with 11 players here, and so for us to get our first MLS point, our players can be really pleased with their efforts. I actually thought the first half, until we gave them that goal, we started quite well, I thought we always looked dangerous on the break, all evening.

On the defensive performance…

We were better, I think Brent Kallman had a fantastic first MLS start. He did really well, I was pretty close to starting him before the season, but he did very well today and he can be very proud of his first ever MLS start.

On the red card play…

We’ll have to take a closer look, I thought he miscontrolled it and he just went for the ball, the referee didn’t even give a foul. So, for it to then just suddenly be a red card was disappointing. It is what it is, but the lads dug in and they can be pleased with their efforts.

On what he said to Ibson coming out of for second half…

I just wanted him to make his play, you know, he’s one of the most confident guys I’ve ever met in terms of his own ability, I thought we needed somebody to actually get his foot on the ball, to try and make people play, and I thought he did that. He’s got great faith in his own ability and sometimes he can give other people that. I think he did really well.

On Abu Danladi’s debut…

I think he had a very disciplined performance because obviously we put him on to be more offensive, and then I don’t even think he had touched the ball before we had Justin sent off, and all of the sudden he’s got to play right side midfield. He did really well on the shift, very disciplined, did his job and what was asked of him.

Man of the Match, Brent Kallman

On his first professional start…

I had a little bit of nerves, which I think is a good thing. To be honest, I haven’t felt that in a while so it was refreshing. I think, overall we were a little nervy, we didn’t really execute the way we wanted to, but we settled down. We executed the game plan and played our game.

On when he settled in tonight…

I think there were a couple plays towards the end of the first half, where I was able to make good decisions and help us get up the field. It was like back to back plays, once I was able to get those plays under my feet, I settled in.

On what it means to get first-ever MLS point…

It was pretty big. Big for the confidence of the group. This is not an easy place to get points at all. You’re dealing with the altitude, which is a factor, and they are a tough team. The fact that we were down at halftime and were able to get two goals says a lot about the group. We’re not quitters, we are here to fight.

Goalscorer Christian Ramirez

On changes after the red card…

I told coach that Miguel [Ibarra] played left back in Leon, so told him to throw him in the back and that’s what they did. We talked about me staying central on [Sam] Cronin and just letting the back have it and trying to counter from there. Just tried to grind it out to get a result.

On giving up the goal moments after taking the lead…

That’ll be a focus of ours. When we score, the next five minutes are crucial. Whether it goes direct for five minutes, that’s the energy that the other team can come back and score that quick goal. That’s a learning point for us and we need to continue to learn from it and not beat ourselves. We’ll continue to work on it.