Monterey Bay Comes Up Short Against Hartford Athletic, Falls 2-1 On the Road at Trinity Health Stadium
HARTFORD, Connecticut (Friday, May 24, 2024) – Monterey Bay F.C. (4-5-3, 15 points) came up short in a 2-1 defeat to Hartford Athletic (4-6-0, 12 points) after striking first at Trinity Health Stadium in Connecticut. Adrian Rebollar scored his first goal of the season – his seventh overall for the Club – to put Monterey Bay in front just 18 minutes in, but the hosts ultimately came from behind to take all three points on the night.
The first chance of the match for the hosts came in the 13th minute when Michee Ngalina volleyed a shot on frame, but it was caught by Monterey Bay’s netminder Antony Siaha. Monterey Bay earned its first corner of the match in the 18th minute. Walmer Martínez whipped the ball into the box with his left foot, and Alex Lara rose up like a salmon to head the ball towards goal, but his attempt smacked the crossbar and fell back into play. With the ball now pinballing around the six-yard box, Rebollar used his strength to fight through defenders and tap the ball into the back of the net to give the Crisp-and-Kelp the 1-0 lead. Hartford created a turnover near the midfield line and jumped out on an immediate counter in the 33rd minute and Ngalina let the ball fly as he approached the box on the left side. The ball took a big deflection off of a defender on the shot, and with Siaha headed towards its initial trajectory, the ball found its way inside the near post to level the match at 1-1 heading into the halftime break.
Five minutes into the second half, Hartford took advantage of a scramble inside the box to take the 2-1 lead. The Union failed to clear the ball four times as it pinged around the box before Deshane Beckford managed to curl it inside the right post from the top of the six-yard box. Monterey Bay responded with a spell of possession that ended with Martínez seemingly being taken down inside the box, however the referee opted not to call a penalty and the resulting corner was cleared away by Hartford without trouble. Desperately in search of the equalizer, Monterey Bay earned another corner in the 87th minute of the match that led to a corner on the opposite side as they continued to pin Hartford back. The ball in was redirected on frame by Mobi Fehr, but his shot aimed just under the crossbar was tipped up and away by the goalkeeper to preserve the hosts one-goal advantage. Xavi Gnaulati put the moves on his defender to enter the box from the right side in the 4th minute of stoppage time, but his ensuing shot was blocked before it could cause any trouble and the match ended 2-1 in favor of the home side.
Up Next
Monterey Bay returns to Seaside for a three-match homestand, beginning with the current Eastern Conference leaders Charleston Battery on Wednesday, May 29 for Hospitality Night at Cardinale Stadium. The midweek match kicks off at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network with live streaming available on Paramount+, the CBS Sports app, CBSSports.com, and Pluto TV.
Additional Notes
- Watsonville’s Adrian Rebollar scored his first goal of the season, the opening score of the match.
- Missing the match due to injury were Luther Archiméde (knee), Simon Dawkins (knee), Alex Dixon (illness), Jesse Maldonado (knee), and Tristan Trager (ribs). Anthony Orendain missed the match to serve his red card suspension from his dismissal in the Club’s match against Loudoun United FC.
Information
Date: May 24, 2024
Venue: Trinity Health Stadium; Hartford, Connecticut
Weather: Sunny and 74 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Hartford Athletic 1 1 2
Monterey Bay F.C. 1 0 1
MB: Adrian Rebollar 18’
HFD: Michee Ngalina (Thomas Vancaeyezeele) 33’
HFD: Deshane Beckford (Thomas Vancaeyezeele) 50’
Lineups
Hartford Athletic (4-3-3): Renan Ribeiro; Rece Buckmaster, Tristan Hodge, Jordan Scarlett, Thomas Vancaeyezeele; Joseph Farrell, Jay Chapman, Beverly Makangila (Joseph Schmidt, 86’); Marcus Epps (Emmanuel Samadia, 70’), Michee Ngalina, Deshane Beckford (Romario Williams, 82’)
Subs not used: Greg Monroe, Joey Akpunonu, Danny Barrera, Dieng Mamadou
Monterey Bay F.C. (5-4-1): Antony Siaha; Walmer Martínez (Grant Robinson, 69’), Carlos Guzmán, Alex Lara (Pierce Gallaway, 84’), Kai Greene, Morey Doner; Adrian Rebollar (Michael Gonzalez, 76’), Mobi Fehr, Rafa Baca, Jerry Ayon (Xavi Gnaulati, 69’); Chase Boone
Subs not used: Carlos Herrera, Chuy Enríquez, Miguel Guerrero
Stats Summary: HFD / MB
Shots: 14 / 9
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 0 / 3
Corner Kicks: 8 / 7
Fouls: 12 / 14
Possession: 44.6% / 55.4%
Misconduct Summary
MB: Ramiro Corrales, Assistant Coach (caution) 35’
MB: Carlos Guzmán (caution) 55’
HFD: Joseph Farrell (caution) 55’
MB: Alex Lara (caution) 61’
MB: Mobi Fehr (caution) 68’
MB: Grant Robinson (caution) 89’
HFD: Romario Williams (caution) 90’
HFD: Tristan Hodge (caution) 90+4’
Officials
Referee: Ricardo Montero Araya
Assistant Referee: Justen Lopez
Assistant Referee: Christian Little
Fourth Official: Jonathan Luk
