Weary FC Cincinnati meet Minnesota United in Loons' home opener

FC Cincinnati will play their fourth match in an 11-day span when they face Minnesota United on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.

Cincinnati earned a 4-0 victory over O&M FC from the Dominican Republic on Feb. 18 in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round match and followed that up with a 2-0 victory over Atlanta United in its MLS opener last Saturday, featuring goals from Kevin Denky and Nick Hagglund.

Pat Noonan's squad then secured a berth against Tigres of La Liga MX in the Champions Cup Round of 16 with a 9-0 victory over the Dominican side in Wednesday's second leg to take the series 13-0 on aggregate.

Now Cincinnati (1-0-0, 3 points) faces a quick turnaround for a road trip to chilly Minnesota, where the high is forecast to be 23 degrees on Saturday.

"As far as what we need to focus on now, it's turning around quickly for what will be a tough game and a tough atmosphere and conditions on Saturday," Noonan said. "We have an important game on Saturday, so we won't talk about Tigres until it's necessary."

Cincinnati had four players from its club academy team or second unit score their first goals with the first team in Wednesday's win, which set a team record for goals in a game.

Minnesota (0-0-1, 1 point) rallied for a 2-2 draw at Austin FC in its league opener last Saturday. Kelvin Yeboah scored the tying goal in the 90th minute and Drake Callender -- taking over for 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair, who departed for Inter Miami -- made four saves in his debut with the Loons.

"Great result," Minnesota coach Cameron Knowles said. "A point on the road. Coming back from a goal down twice, scoring late, substitutes making an impact, all really positive things. ... I thought overall, first game out, really good performance by the guys."

The team remained mum on whether Colombian striker James Rodriguez would make his debut on Saturday. The Golden Boot winner in the 2014 World Cup signed a contract with the Loons on Feb. 6.

Rodriguez, 34, hasn't played in a competitive match since Nov. 8 and just returned to full training this week.

--Field Level Media