When Minnesota United FC wins, goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair is likely behind it

It’s not possible to say Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair is underrated, given that he was voted into next week’s All-Star Game by the fans. And it’s certainly not true, as a fan favorite, that St. Clair is underappreciated.

Maybe a better way of saying it is that, after so many matches in goal, St. Clair has been around for so long that it’s hard for everyone not to take him for granted. Another one-on-one save, another diving stop of a long-range blast: Fans have seen it all before from St. Clair.

The best way to see his value might be to look at the difference when he’s not in the lineup. St. Clair, 28, had an abbreviated run as the team’s starting goalkeeper at the end of the 2020 season and the beginning of 2021 but took over for good in the third game of the 2022 season. Since the beginning of 2022, “DSC” has 48 wins and 28 clean sheets in 107 MLS matches.

Every other Loons goalkeeper put together? Two wins and zero clean sheets in 18 matches.

Other factors are in play, especially given that St. Clair’s absences tend to be during international breaks when the Loons are missing other players as well. But in general, the rule of thumb is simple: If St. Clair is in net, the Loons have a chance of winning. If not, they generally don’t.

However you sort the goalkeeper numbers, St. Clair always ends up in about the same place: a top-10 MLS goalkeeper across those four seasons. And the numbers don’t tell the whole story, either. When St. Clair is in net, the Loons feel complete, as a team, in a way they don’t with anyone else in the lineup.

“He can have big headline moments, Dayne, and has since I’ve been here,” manager Eric Ramsay said. “I think what you wouldn’t notice from being sat in the stand, necessarily, or watching games on the television is the personality and the character and the desperation to win and the leadership and the communication that he provides.”

Being a goalkeeper, after all, is about more than just keeping the ball out of the net. Not only is there general defensive organization to do, the keeper has a big role to play when it comes to starting the Loons offense.

St. Clair is often the one deciding whether to push the tempo and try to set the team off on a counter-attack or slow it down and play the ball out of the back. He’s the one looking downfield and choosing between launching a goal kick long at a forward or playing it short to a defender.

Given the team’s general tendency toward playing long, there are times when St. Clair’s decision-making and passing accuracy are just as important as any of the center backs, if not more.

“My job, I think, is always to limit the amount of shots and try and put out the fires before they actually get to me,” St. Clair said. “I think a large part of my job is organizing and making sure that we’re in good structures and in good shape. And then with the ball, especially with the amount of set pieces that we take, I’m kind of like the quarterback setting things up and making sure that that guys are in the right spot. I’m their eyes, and the voice behind the team, kind of pushing everyone.”

No more Loons games overlap with St. Clair’s international duties this season, but with the keeper’s contract up after the year, it still remains possible his time with the Loons is winding down. The keeper says his contract situation is not on his mind.

“For me, it’s just showing my value, whether it’s here or somewhere else,” he said. “I know that every game that I play gives me an opportunity to show what I’m worth.”

With just more than a dozen games left on Minnesota’s schedule for the year, plus an All-Star appearance next week, this stretch could be fans’ last chance to appreciate St. Clair. And the keeper, jokingly, said — just like the games when he’s been gone playing with Canada — people can’t miss you until you actually leave.

“Sometimes, you don’t know how good you have it until it’s gone, right?” he said.

9:30 p.m. Saturday at Providence Park

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Portland (9-7-6) is in sixth place in the West, but the Timbers seem to have hit a wall; they’ve lost three of their past four games, with all three losses coming against teams outside the current playoff picture. Minnesota (11-5-7) is undefeated this year in the Pacific Northwest, with a draw in Vancouver and a win at Seattle, and needs a result to re-establish the Loons’ credentials as a Western Conference contender.