Monterey Bay Comes up Short Against Hartford Athletic, Falls 2-1 on the Road at Trinity Health Stadium

May 24, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Monterey Bay FC News Release

HARTFORD, Connecticut – 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…