Monterey Bay Falls 2-0 at Home to Detroit City

September 29, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Monterey Bay FC News Release

SEASIDE, California – Monterey Bay F.C. (7-14-9, 30 points) fell 2-0 to Eastern Conference side Detroit City FC (13-8-9, 48 points) in James Murphy’s return to Cardinale Stadium, presented by Montage Health. Monterey Bay continues to battle through a string of injuries down the final stretch, and will now head to Phoenix for a fixture against Rising FC next Friday.

Monterey Bay had their foot on the gas to start the match, resulting in a lot of pressure on the visitors early on. In the 8th minute, the Union looked to score on the end of a corner kick, but the goal was called back for a foul committed in the box. A few minutes later, the ball pinged around the box before falling perfectly for Walmer Martínez as he stepped up. Martínez smashed the ball with his left foot, but missed over the top of the crossbar. Xavi Gnaulati earned his first chance of the match with a right-footed ripper in the 22nd minute, but his shot missed just to the left of the post. Detroit City found their first opportunity of the match a minute later, but Carlos Herrera was there to clean it up. Detroit City looked likely to score again in the 25th minute, but a sliding challenge inside the box by Morey Doner stopped the chance in its tracks. As the visitors continued to turn the tide in the match, Herrea was forced to make another save in the 30th minute, this time with an impressive kick save. Then, in the 37th minute, Ben Morris’ shot for Detroit City evaded Herrera’s outstretched hand and found the back of the net to give the visitors the 1-0 lead at the half.

Seven minutes into the second half, Gnaulati combined with Pierce Gallaway to create another look at goal, but his shot was saved in a diving effort by the goalkeeper. Detroit takes their first look at a goal in the second half in the 58th minute with a shot outside the 18-yard box that misses just wide. Second half substitute Ryan Dieter took his first shot of the night from distance in the 74th minute, but his curling effort missed just over the top-right corner of the frame. Then in the 86th minute, Detroit City managed to double its lead with a goal off of a corner that ricocheted off two Union defenders before falling perfectly in front of goal for Connor Rutz to quickly tap in. Monterey Bay continued to battle until the final whistle, creating another scoring opportunity in the 89th minute, but the shot by Adrian Rebollar…