Six days later came the Open Cup turning point for Minnesota United in the Round of 16. Everyone in the team points to that game, on the road in hot, sticky Houston against the defending champions, as the point at which everything changed. Down 2-0 at the half to the 2018 champs Houston Dynamo, MNUFC were in need of inspiration and goals. Quintero provided both.
In the 65th minute and with the Loons pressing hard, Quintero hopped on the end of another bit of clever interplay with Rodriguez and stroked home from close range at the near post. With nine minutes to go, he scored his best of the bunch to even the scores. The Houston defense dared Quintero to shoot from nearly 30 yards out. He obliged, curling he ball around goalkeeper Michael Nelson and inside the post to tie the game and set up a late winner for young American striker Mason Toye.
“That Houston game was key. We were down two at the half and I told the guys, ‘OK the next goal decides this’,” said head coach Adrian Heath, an FA Cup winner with Everton in 1984. “We had enough of the ball in the first half and we made chances and so I thought that if we got the next goal there’s no reason we couldn’t win it,” Young Toye agreed: “We just had to find a way to get a win. And we did. Once we got that win down there I felt like we had a really good chance to go far”
