Dayne St. Clair stands on his head in pivotal Minnesota United win vs. San Diego - ICYMI

There’s no doubt that Dayne St. Clair is one of the best goalkeepers in MLS right now, and he showed why this weekend, as he helped Minnesota United to a massive 3-1 win vs. San Diego FC. 

In a battle of the two top teams in MLS’s Western Conference, Minnesota picked up a massive road win against San Diego, and they can thank St. Clair for that result, as their goalkeeper stood on his head in the victory. 

Thanks to that, Minnesota now sit two points behind San Diego in the race for first place in the Western Conference (although they sit just two points ahead of the Vancouver Whitecaps, who have two games in hand on both teams), as they continue their quest to beat their previous best finish of fourth in the West, which they achieved in 2019 and 2020. 

As mentioned, St. Clair was excellent in this victory, too, as the Canadian goalkeeper made an astonishing 12 saves on the day - for context, that’s the sixth-most saves a goalkeeper has ever made in an MLS match, just four behind the record of 16 (ironically held by St. Clair’s CanMNT teammate, Maxime Crépeau, who set that mark with the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2019, coming in a 3-1 defeat). 

The Patron Saint of Big Saves pic.twitter.com/t9upeqBrmd

— x - Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) September 14, 2025

St. Clair was made to work on those saves, too, as OPTA rated the 13 shots that San Diego put on target at 2.34 xGOT, meaning that St. Clair saved 1.34 goals above expected - that now pushes him to second in the league in that category in 2025 with +7.8, only sitting behind Toronto FC’s Sean Johnson, who has saved +8.7 goals above expected (via FBRef).

Here's St. Clair's percentile chart from this year, showing how he compares to other MLS goalkeepers. As seen by his PSxG and save percentage, he's been a dominant shot-stopper (FBRef)

Therefore, while he’ll be frustrated that his bid for a 10th clean sheet of the MLS season (which would’ve tied him for second in the league) was spoiled by a late San Diego goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time with Minnesota already up 3-0, St. Clair can be pleased with this showing, which also included an impressive eight saves inside the box.

Here are all of the on-target shots that St. Clair faced vs. San Diego (WyScout)

And here's a chart showing where St. Clair made those saves relative to his net, giving an idea of where some of the shots he kept out were destined to go (WyScout)

There’s a reason why he leads MLS in save percentage with 79.1%, as Minnesota have conceded just 24 goals in the 26 MLS matches he’s played - they’ve otherwise conceded nine goals in the four MLS games he’s missed (they sit tied for second in MLS with 33 goals against). 

Because of that, look for St. Clair to build off this game as he looks to finish 2025 on a high note. With his play, he’s got every chance to win MLS’s goalkeeper of the year award, and then will look to help push Minnesota to a deep run in the MLS Cup playoffs. 

The stars from Matchday 33. 💫

🗞️: https://t.co/Z6jCWREjuX pic.twitter.com/GxVZa9e2hA

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 15, 2025

From there, he’ll continue to battle as he tries to earn the CanMNT’s starting goalkeeper spot ahead of next year’s World Cup, having taken a good step towards that in Canada’s recent September window, keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory vs. Wales. 

It remains hard to split him and Maxime Crépeau right now, as Crépeau also had a good showing for the CanMNT vs. Romania (keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 win), but performances like this one vs. San Diego can only help St. Clair’s case, showing why he’ll want to finish the year on a high note at the club level. 

For a full round-up of Canadians playing abroad, check out Mitchell Tierney’s Form Guide