Malango Buries Late Header to Lift Monterey Bay Over Colorado Springs 2-1 in Seaside
SEASIDE, California (Saturday, April 12, 2025) – Monterey Bay FC (4-1-1, 13 points) defeated Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (1-2-2, 5 points) 2-1 at Cardinale Stadium. Adrian Rebollar scored the opening goal of the night with a header in the first half, and Mayele Malango buried a header of his own late in the second half to give the Crisp-and-Kelp its third win in a row at home and fourth league win overall. Monterey Bay FC now sits at the top of the table in the Western Conference through six matches.
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Monterey Bay started the match on the front foot straight away. In the 5th minute, Ethan Bryant maintained possession on the right before chopping back to his left inside the box, but the ensuing shot was cleared by a defender at the goal line. A minute later, Luke Ivanovic whipped a ball into the box from the left sideline that fell perfectly to Rebollar for the first-time volley, but the laser shot crashed off the crossbar to keep the Seasiders off the board early. In the 9th minute, a poor pass from the hosts inside their own half led to the visitors’ first opportunity of the night, but the attempt missed wide of the right post. With both sides settled into spells of possession, Monterey Bay’s next opportunity on frame came in the 31st minute when Ivanovic fired off a right-footed shot from beyond the box, but it was caught by the goalkeeper. Five minutes later, a ball into the box by Joel Garcia Jr. was headed straight up into the air by the defender, and Rebollar got his head onto it on its way down to perfectly push the ball past the goalkeeper and give the Crisp-and-Kelp the 1-0 lead. Then in the 42nd minute, Justin Dhillon equalized for Colorado Springs with a tap in and the first half ended level at 1-1.
In the 69th minute, the visitors looked to capitalize on a Monterey Bay FC blunder that resulted in a dangerous counter, but MilesLyons – the last defender to beat for the Switchbacks FC forward – perfectly executed a last-ditch tackle to take the ball off the attacker before he could take advantage of the Nico Campuzano scrambling to return to his box. Colorado Springs brought pressure again in the 76th minute, forcing a turnover that turned into a real opportunity to take the lead, but the ball rolled just past the forward before he could tap it into an empty right side of the net. The Crisp-and-Kelp continued to push for the winner despite the visitors taking a hold of possession in the second half. In the 83rd minute, that persistence paid off with a fantastic ball into the box from the right sideline by Anton Søjberg. The ball found Malango at the far post, and the forward snapped it into the back of the net with his head to give Monterey Bay FC the 2-1 lead. Two minutes later, Colorado Springs looked to draw level once again, but the strong, left-footed shot by Herbert Endeley was saved with a heroic diving effort by Campuzano moving to his right. Switchbacks FC saw one final chance to score in the 90th minute, but Campuzano once again stonewalled the shot by Yosuke Hanya and Monterey Bay FC held on to take all three points on the night with a 2-1 win.
Up Next
Monterey Bay hits the road for a two-match away trip that starts in Kentucky against Lexington FC on Saturday, April 19. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. PT at Lexington SC Stadium, with live streaming available on ESPN+.
Additional Notes
- Missing the match due to injury was Alex Dixon (lower body), Sami Guediri (lower body), Diego Gutiérrez (lower body), Adam Larsson (lower body), Jacob Muir (lower body), and Grant Robinson (lower body).
Information
Date: April 12, 2025
Venue: Cardinale Stadium; Seaside, California
Weather: Clear and 55°F
Attendance: 3,309
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Monterey Bay FC 1 1 2
Colorado Springs 1 0 1
MB: Adrian Rebollar 36’
COS: Justin Dhillon (Herbert Endeley) 42’
MB: Mayele Malango (Anton Søjberg) 83’
Lineups
Monterey Bay FC (4-1-3-2): Nico Campuzano; Joel Garcia Jr., Carlos Guzmán, Nico Gordon, Miles Lyons; Wesley Fonguck (Pierce Gallaway, 81’); Luke Ivanovic (Mayele Malango, 65’), Ethan Bryant (Xavi Gnaulati, 64’), Adrian Rebollar; Ilijah Paul, Anton Søjberg (Alex Lara, 88’)
Subs not used: Sam Gomez, Mobi Fehr, Luther Archimède
Colorado Springs (4-3-3): Abraham Romero; Garven Métusala, Matt Mahoney, Matt Real (Koa Santos, 89’), Duke Lacroix; Anthony Fontana, Marco Micaletto, Yosuke Hanya (Akeem Ward, 89’); Quenzi Huerman (Zach Zandi, 67’), Herbert Endeley, Justin Dhillon
Subs not used: Christian Herrera, Stevie Echevarria, Alessandro Maldonado, Jonas Fjeldberg
Stats Summary: MB / COS
Shots: 7 / 15
Shots on Goal: 5 / 7
Saves: 6 / 2
Corner Kicks: 4 / 4
Fouls: 10 / 21
Possession: 45.8% / 54.2%
Misconduct Summary
COS: Justin Dhillon (caution) 34’
COS: Marco Micaletto (caution) 39’
COS: Anthony Fontana (caution) 66’
COS: Yosuke Hanya (caution) 88’
Officials
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Assistant Referee: Fernando Fierro
Assistant Referee: Emmanuel Padilla
Fourth Official: Yannick Rothfuss
