Oh, sweet Nector!

New Minnesota United midfielder Nector Triantis enjoyed an audacious MLS debut in the 3-1 win over San Diego FC on Saturday. As a second-half substitute, Triantis lofted a rainbow shot from behind the halfway line and over the head of goalkeeper Carlos Dos Santos.

Loons teammates mobbed him as Minnesota sealed all three points in a road match at first-place San Diego.

“I saw the keeper off his line before I got the ball, so as soon as I had that first touch, I knew in my mind what I was going to do,” Triantis said Tuesday. “Just luckily, it came off.”

While it didn’t receive MLS goal of the week, it will go down as one of the most stunning debut goals in the league’s 30-year history.

“I don’t think I could have dreamt that,” said the 22-year-old, who hasn’t chipped a goalkeeper since his youth days.

OH MY NECTARIOS TRIANTIS! FROM MINNESOTA’S OWN HALF! pic.twitter.com/bNCFpsf0Lo

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 14, 2025

Triantis comes in as the Loons’ most-expensive addition in the summer transfer window, with a fee of roughly $2.5 million sent to newly promoted English Premier League club Sunderland. This week, Triantis is looking to make a similar impact in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Austin FC at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

If the Loons win, the club will host the final of the national tournament in St. Paul on Oct. 1.

Loons head coach Eric Ramsay said he had “every faith” Triantis could hit the ground running after the Australian received his U.S. work visa in Canada last week and quickly punched the clock with his new club.

Ramsay pointed to Triantis playing for Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League and earning Hibs’ player of the year award last season. This summer, he was a part of Sunderland’s preseason.

“When you add to that, he has done eight weeks of a preseason with the Premier League team, a team that had a huge (record) influx of players to the tune of 150, 160 million pounds,” Ramsay said. “That preseason is going to feel a certain way, and I think he has coped really well in there.”

Triantis, who was credited with an assist on Carlos Harvey’s goal Saturday, has had to transition from the early stages of a season in England to the final push in MLS.

“It’s a big change, but it’s something that I knew coming here. So it wasn’t a shock to me, and I had time to adjust,” Triantis said. “Now coming straight in, I feel ready.”

Change has been constant for Triantis. He recently reclassified to Greece, hoping for a national team call-up, and he got engaged to Nikki Tampakas in picturesque Lake Como, Italy in late August. It came weeks after his transfer to the Loons was completed, so when he popped the question there were no surprises of a move to United.

“She thought it was a bit out there,” Triantis said of Minnesota. “But she’s with me every step of the way, and she’s open to everything,” Triantis said. “So we’re really glad we’re here now.”

Ramsay also has seen Triantis’ confidence on the training grounds.

“From minute one of session one, he’s very vocal, really aggressive, in terms of how he’s organizing people, and he has obviously come here with big points to prove, perhaps also with real intent to go make another step from here,” Ramsay said. “I think he’s exactly the type of profile that we want and the type of person that can certainly help us achieve what we want to achieve this year.”

And he’s a good shot from long distance, too?

“Great,” Ramsay replied. “Incredible.”