Ethan Finlay brace earns Minnesota United second spot in Group D

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:15 am

Ethan Finlay scored twice late in the first half as Minnesota United rallied from an early deficit to finish in a 2-2 tie with the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday near Orlando to clinch second place in Group D and advance in the MLS is Back Tournament.

Goalkeeper Tyler Miller made three saves for the Loons. Minnesota United finished a point behind Sporting Kansas City in the group standings, and Real Salt Lake came in third place with four points.

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Kei Kamara and Jonathan Lewis scored for last-place Colorado. The Rapids were eliminated despite earning its first point of the tournament.

Finlay scored in the 36th and 43rd minutes, with Jan Gregus getting assists on both goals.

The first came off a free kick just outside the 18-yard box on the left wing to tie the score at 1-1. Finlay deflected Gregus' cross just inside the near post.

The second goal came after a nifty give-and-go by Gregus sprung Romain Metanire down the right wing. Metanire took the ball to the end line before sending a cross back to Finlay at the top of the 6-yard box. Finlay was able to get his right foot on the ball while falling to the ground, bouncing a shot off the turf and over Rapids goalie William Yarbrough.

Colorado opened the scoring in the 19th minute as Kamara finished off a three-on-two break. He took a pass from Nicolas Benezet at the top of the 18-yard box and put a low shot under an onrushing Miller and just inside the right post.

The goal was the 128th of Kamara's MLS career, fifth in league history. It was also the 1,000 goal scored by the Rapids franchise since it was a founding member of the league in 1996.

Lewis tied the score in the 59th minute, shortly after entering as a substitute. He collected a failed Minnesota clearance off a corner kick and unleashed a 17-yard shot that went off the right hand of a diving Miller and into the top left corner of the net.

Yarbrough, making his second straight start with Clint Irwin sidelined due to a concussion, produced six saves.