If Real Salt Lake is awarded a penalty kick on Saturday night at Allianz Field, it will conjure deja vu and Minnesota United will like its odds with Dayne St. Clair in net.

The Loons goalkeeper has been deft on PKs throughout his MLS career, and after what happened in the first-round MLS Cup Playoff series between the two clubs last fall, he also might live rent free in the heads of some RSL players.

St. Clair either saved or RSL missed — with St. Clair’s mind games in effect — five of its 10 total PK attempts across the two shootouts. MNUFC won both matches and its goalie’s performances were a catalyst for the club to go on its deepest playoff run since 2020.

St. Clair chatted with the Pioneer Press about last season’s memorable run. Game 1 was in Sandy, Utah, but Game 2 came in St. Paul, and that location alone made it more memorable to him. He was a showman in both.

“Having the crowd behind me, making a few saves, just positive notes,” St. Clair reflected. “Hopefully (I) don’t have to face any in this game (Saturday), but if that’s the case, then I’m definitely up for the task.”

In MLS regular-season matches, St. Clair has a strong record on penalty kicks, allowing goals on only five of 11 attempts (46%), per FBref.com. This’s roughly half of the expected goals (xG) for PK takers when at the spot (80%).

Among those attempts, St. Clair has saved 36% and benefited from 18% misses. He doesn’t care how it transpires, as long as it stays out of the back of his net. In the playoff series, he made one save, while RSL missed the target or hit the woodwork four times.

Given the long odds in any setting, St. Clair insists he feels no pressure in those high-stakes situations. He knows the analytics are against him, so he leans into the subterfuge.

After the full five rounds in Game 1, Jefferson Diaz gave the Loons a 5-4 led going into RSL’s attempt and St. Clair asked referee Ray Touchan, “If they miss, is it going to be over?”

St. Clair knew full well it would be the end, but he wanted to say the quiet part out loud and up the ante on Braian Ojeda. It might have played on Ojeda’s nerves as he put his shot off the crossbar to give MNUFC a 1-0 series lead.

“The crossbar was a good friend of mine, so hopefully me and him continue to be in a good relationship,” St. Clair joked about an inanimate object in his post-match news conference.

Earlier in the Game 1 shootout, St. Clair dove to his right as Goncalves shot to the left for an easy goal. That moment would come back around in Game 2.

“It’s the second time that we’ve seen some of those guys in such quick succession,” St. Clair reflected Thursday. “So it creates a little bit it’s a cat-and-mouse game for both of us. … In terms of, ‘Are they gonna shoot the same way?’ Are they gonna switch it up? So I think then that creates a little bit more indecision, and was something that I was able to kind of play on going into the second game.”

In Game 2, St. Clair took it up a few notches in the second round of PKs. He pointed to his right as Diogo Goncalves stood behind the ball. St. Clair called it. Goncalves shot right and into a diving St. Clair, who smirked after the stop.

In round three, RSL’s Matt Crooks went to the spot after not shooting in Game 1. St. Clair wasn’t as subtle and just started yelling his name.

“We didn’t have any stats on him for shooting prior, so I didn’t really know where he might be going,” St. Clair said. “So if I can kind of really play into it, because at that moment, I have nothing to lose versus sometimes you have the data and you don’t really want to say anything because they might switch.”

Crooks put his shot over the crossbar and into the Wonderwall supporters section in the south end of Allianz Field. St. Clair went berserk, with fist pumps and tugs on his jersey. In hindsight this week, he said that name-calling was his most-effective antic in either shootout.

Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair instructs his team as Necaxa prepares for a corner kick in the second half of a Leagues Cup soccer match Tuesday, July 30, 2024 in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

St. Clair remained on point in round four going to his right as Diego Luna put the fourth-round shot off the post.The Loons’ 6-foot-3 ‘keeper might have got his fingertips on the shot.

Afterward, St. Clair, a Toronto-area native, went into former Raptors star Vince Carter’s “It’s Over” celebration. Then teammate Sang Bin Jeong’s successful shot clinched the Loons’ spot in the Western Conference semifinal.

St. Clair said he couldn’t have done it alone. Besides his teammates being more ice-cold from the spot than RSL, he credited assistant goalkeeping coach Cristiano Costa for helping his preparations.

“Cristiano did a lot of work as well, behind the scenes, collecting all the video, showing me all the video,” St. Clair said.

For all his tomfoolery before and after PKs, Loons director of goalkeeping Tom Fawdry was impressed with St. Clair’s poise in the big moment.

“If the game is frantic, then sometimes you need to be the calmest man in the stadium,” Fawdry said. “When it was his opportunity to step up, he did that and showed what he can do.”

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