Monterey Bay Earns Clean Sheet Away From Home in Scoreless Draw With Defending USL Championship Title Winners
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Saturday, August 19, 2023) – Monterey Bay F.C. (7-11-7, 28 points) earned a shutout draw on the road against reigning champions San Antonio FC (13-4-8, 47 points) at Toyota Field. Carlos Herrera earned his first clean sheet of the season, holding the highest scoring team in the league scoreless for only the fifth time this season. The result was the Union’s first-ever point against San Antonio FC, and a sixth shutout of the campaign overall.
The first 20 minutes came and went with both sides feeling out the match. Monterey Bay then earned its first real chance of the night in the 21st minute following a spell of purposeful possession. From the right sideline, Morey Doner crossed a ball towards Chase Boone at the near post, but his diving header missed to the right of the frame. Getting right back into the host’s half of the pitch, the Union earned another chance just three minutes later, but Ugo Okoli’s shot from the top of the box missed just wide of the left post. In the 37th minute, Santiago Patino fired a shot from the edge of the box that was aimed at the top-right corner, but it was punched up and over the crossbar by Herrera. Another brilliant spell of possession for the Crisp-and-Kelp came in the 38th minute and resulted in Rafael Baca finding Boone in the midst of a run across the six-yard box, but Boone’s shot was saved by Jordan Farr at the near post to deny the opener for the Union and send the sides scoreless into the halftime break.
San Antonio earned the first two chances of the second half in the 52nd minute. The first shot from inside the box was blocked by Hugh Roberts II, and then a second attempt from 18 yards out was safely covered up by Herrera. Monterey Bay sprung a dangerous counter attack a minute later that led to possession inside the box, but the ensuing shot by Boone was saved by Farr. Two additional counter attacks followed shortly after with each ending in crosses into the box by Doner, but San Antonio FC managed to quell both chances. Now clearly out on the front foot, an attack for the Union led by Alex Dixon and Sam Gleadle down the left side of the pitch resulted in a pass to a wide open Doner on the right side of the box, but his shot missed wide of the near post in the 60th minute. Doner whipped a low ball across the box in the 77th minute, but it proved to be just out of the reach of Okoli as he made a run at the far post. Okoli received the ball on the right side of the box two minutes later, but his laser shot aimed at the bottom-right corner was denied by a kick-save. In the 80th minute, Alex Lara and San Antonio’s Jorge Hernandez got tangled inside the box, leading to Hernandez receiving his second yellow and being sent off – leaving the hosts with 10-men the rest of the way. A shot from distance by Mitchell Taintor in the 89th minute had eyes for goal, but Herrera was there to usher it out for the seventh time of the night and the match finished scoreless with a point apiece for both sides. The result halts the Union’s five-game losing streak and sets up an exciting finish for the Crisp-and-Kelp down the stretch as the side looks to secure a spot in the USL Championship playoffs in its sophomore campaign.
Up Next: Monterey Bay returns home to host Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Back to School NIght at Cardinale Stadium on Saturday, August 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast locally via KION on FOX 35 (46.2 over the air, 35 Dish, 47 DirecTV and 3/702 HD Xfinity), with live streaming available on ESPN+.
Notes:
– Carlos Herrera earned his first clean sheet of the season with a seven-save performance on the road against the highest scoring team in the league to date. It was the second-highest number of saves in a single match in his career, the highest being the inaugural season finale in Edinburg against Rio Grande Valley FC last October in which he had eight.
– James Murphy was unavailable for selection in the match as he served a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation.
– Missing the match due to injury was Chuy Enríquez (knee), Max Glasser (hamstring) and Grant Robinson (abdominal).
Match: San Antonio FC vs Monterey Bay F.C.
Date: August 19, 2023
Venue: Toyota Field; San Antonio, Texas
Weather: Sunny and 99 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
San Antonio FC 0 0 0
Monterey Bay F.C. 0 0 0
Lineups:
San Antonio FC (5-3-2): Jordan Farr; Ismaila Jome, Mitchell Taintor, Fabien Garcia, Carter Manley, Shannon Gomez; Victor Giro (Jacori Hayes, 62’), Jorge Hernandez, Rida Zouhir (Juan Azócar, 70’); Tani Oluwaseyi, Santiago Patino (Ignacio Bailone, 84’)
Subs not used: Jose Carlos Mercado, Lamar Batista, Isaiah Parker, Niko Hansen
Monterey Bay F.C. (3-4-2-1): Carlos Herrera; Alex Lara, Hugh Roberts II, Kai Greene; Sam Gleadle, Mobi Fehr, Rafa Baca, Morey Doner; Alex Dixon, Chase Boone; Ugo Okoli
Subs not used: Antony Siaha, Walmer Martínez, Nevello Yoseke, Adrian Rebollar, Simon Dawkins, Jesse Maldonado, Christian Volesky
Stats Summary: SA / MB
Shots: 17 / 11
Shots on Goal: 7 / 2
Saves: 2 / 7
Corner Kicks: 9 / 9
Fouls: 15 / 16
Possession: 52.1% / 47.9%
Misconduct Summary:
SA: Jorge Hernandez (caution) 39’
SA: Santiago Patino (caution) 58’
MB: Chase Boone (caution) 79’
SA: Jorge Hernandez (caution, dismissal) 80’
MB: Morey Doner (caution) 86’
MB: Kai Greene (caution) 87’
SA: Shannon Gomez (caution) 87’
Officials:
Referee: Alejo Calume
Assistant Referee: Tom Felice
Assistant Referee: Jennifer Garner
Fourth Official: Sean Caouette
