Tristan Trager Late Goal Earns Monterey Bay Draw at El Paso Locomotive FC
Moreno's 4th Minute Goal Cancelled Out 3 Minutes From Time
Tristan Trager’s super-sub goal 3 minutes from time was enough for Monterey Bay FC to cancel out Amando Moreno’s 4th minute goal to earn a 1-1 draw where both sides will wonder how they didn’t get all three points.
After a cagey opening few minutes, El Paso Locomotive stuck on the counter attack four minutes in. The movement started with a poor centering ball from Monterey Bay’s Grant Robinson. From there the El Paso goal was scored in 7 touches, 2 from Tumi Moshobane, 1 from Justin Dhillon and 4 from the goal scorer Amando Moreno. The backheel from Dhillon on this move set the whole thing alight as it allowed Moreno to collect on the run and beat Kai Greene before crossing midfield. Moreno also had the sense to shoot far post before Greene could put an intervening tackle in near the edge of the 18. The more disappointing thing may have been the angle Antony Siaha took coming out, giving up 2/3rd’s of the goal allowing for an easier finish.
The rest of the first half would see a defined patter of play. El Paso Locomotive was a little too sloppy for their own good, and were very lucky Monterey Bay did not have their radar on target set. Hugh Alexander-Dixon on the counter attack in the 8th minute got in behind the El Paso defense before crossing midfield. However, Alexander-Dixon slowed up near the edge of the 18, his body positioning poor to get a shot on target, allowing Brandan Craig to get back and force the shot wide of the near post. El Paso picked the ball up in midfield through Moreno but Eric Calvillo’s effort was scuffed, Miles Lyons cross on the end line too close to Antony Siaha.
From here El Paso got even sloppier in their play, and Monterey Bay will regret the chances missed. It started in the 29th when Rebollar took the intercept ball, got free with a 1-2 with Martinez, but saw Alexander-Dixon header never going on target. 2 minutes later on a corner, Guzman on the near post redirected Martinez’s corner over. Fehr had 2 chances in 2 minutes to head Doner and Enriquez crosses on goal but he failed to put them on target. It was the inverse, Fehr to Martinez in the 43rd minute where Jahmali Waite had to tip the header over the crossbar. Before halftime, Martinez’s free kick after Moreno fouled Fehr that nearly found the near post 90, instead bouncing over the crossbar. Going into the second half Monterey Bay had their chances (10 shots in total) but their finishing wasn’t all rust, it was just poor (1 on target).
It was second half substitute Ricardo Zacarias, coming on for Justin Dhillon, who nearly gave the hosts the perfect start 5 minutes into the second half. Moreno, in his last act of the game, started the attack by finding Calvillo with a cross field pass, Calvillo saw Zacarias making the run central and put it on his feet perfectly. The only thing missing was a finish far post, the ball deflecting off the post and out for a goal kick.
Chances would be few and far between in the second half, El Paso cleaning up their passing and pressing higher up the pitch. Monterey Bay’s head collectively down after not seeing the pressure the last 15 minutes of the first half pay off. The chess match would continue into the 70th minute when Noah Dollenmayer and Diago Abarca would come on to shore up the midfield and defense for El Paso Locomotive, Monterey Bay FC countering the change with Luther Archimede and Tristan Trager coming on for Jesus Enriquez and Walmer Martinez. Monterey Bay looked like they might have found the breakthrough in the 77th minute, but Archimede was a yard offside.
Zacarias continued to be a menace, and forced Siaha into a save in the 85th minute, Lucas Stauffer heavy touch allowed Zacarias’s to fire far post, Siaha having to dive to collect. 2 minutes later, Monterey Bay would strike. Trager did excellent work keeping the ball in midfield and playing a 1-2 to Alexander-Dixon. The pass to Alexander-Dixon allowed Trager to run into the space vacated by Akinyode, who went wide to cover Alexander-Dixon. Alexander-Dixon’s ball allowed Trager to fire first time before Liam Rose could get back to cover, the shot fired at too much pace for Jahmali Waite to react to. It was a well worked team goal from Monterey Bay FC to find the equalizer, who held on from there despite Diego Abarca shot through traffic in the last minute of stoppage time.
You can see the improvement in Monterey Bay already in just one game. They were pressing more throughout the pitch, and if they maintain this level of press all season, they are going to plenty more chances to find the twine. El Paso Locomotive are a team that have had too many critical holes at the back in their first two games that could be easily exploited. That is something that needs to be fixed immediately considering who comes into town on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm (Louisville City FC).
Monterey Bay opens their home slate on Saturday night at 10 pm Eastern against Phoenix Rising FC.
El Paso knocked out the Oakland Roots from the Playoffs in the last game of last season, so this is a just outcome for the Bay teams!
It’s early and El Paso needs time to gel.
Still an underwhelming start from a side I tipped to be very good this season.