Cardinale Stadium Sees Eight Goals in Exciting 5-3 Victory for Monterey Bay F.C. in 2023 Season Opener
Dixon Records First Career Hat Trick, Glasser Tallies First Career Assist in Pro Debut
SEASIDE, California (Saturday, March 11, 2023) – Monterey Bay F.C. (1-0-0, 3 points) earned the 5-3 victory over Hartford Athletic (0-1-0, 0 points) in the 2023 season opener at Cardinale Stadium, presented by Cardinale Automotive Group. Alex Dixon scored the first hat trick in MBFC history with three goals in the first half, while Adrian Rebollar added to the Crisp and Kelp’s total in the second half.
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Monterey Bay F.C. kicked the 2023 regular season off with a goal out of the gates. 2 minutes into the season, new signing Dixon collected the ball following a deflection in the box and slid it past the goalkeeper to put the Crisp and Kelp on top 1-0 right away – the fastest goal in MBFC history. Hartford earned a chance in the 8th minute, but the attempt was blocked by Hugh Roberts. Hartford sprung a counter attack in the 23rd minute led by Prince Saydee that pulled Antony Siaha out of his box. After rounding the goalkeeper, Saydee tapped it across the line to level the match 1-1. In the 39th minute of the match, Walmer Martínez possessed the ball at the top of the 18-yard box before laying it off to Max Glasser down the left side of the pitch. Glasser beat the defender to the endline before floating a left-footed ball into the box toward Dixon, who headed the ball inside the right post to put the Union back in front 2-1. The assist for Glasser goes down as his first professional assist in his professional debut.
Two minutes later, Kaveh Rad equalized for Hartford once again with a header. Then in the 44th minute, Sam Gleadle earned a penalty after being taken down inside the box following a run beyond the back line. Dixon stepped up to the spot and buried it past the goalkeeper’s right to secure his first career hat trick – the first hat trick in MBFC history – and put the Crisp and Kelp in front for good. Less than a minute later, Chase Boone received the ball inside the box on the left side from Dixon. Boone made a move around the defender and fired a left-footed shot on frame that took a deflection from a Hartford defender to squeak into the back of the net and an exciting first half ended at 4-2.
The Union began the second half on the front foot again. In the 67th minute, Glasser flew up the left sideline on the counter for the home side and sent a perfect ball forward to Dixon who was streaking wide open down the center of the pitch. Dixon drew in the defense and fired a ball towards Gleadle just outside the six-yard box. Gleadle then laid the pass off to Rebollar, barrelling down the center of the box and Rebollar smashed it into the back of the net to put the Crisp and Kelp up 5-2. Hartford pulled one more back in the 76th minute with a second goal from Saydee, but it was not enough and the match ended 5-3 in favor of Monterey Bay.
Up Next: Monterey Bay F.C. remains at home and welcomes Defending Eastern Conference Champions Louisville City FC to Cardinale Stadium on Saturday, March 18. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT with gates scheduled to open two hours prior.
Man of the Match: Alex Dixon earns MBFC’s first Man of the Match honors of 2023 with a historic opening night display. Dixon recorded his first career hat trick and the first hat trick in Monterey Bay F.C. history. In the process, Dixon recorded the 49th, 50th and 51st goals of his USL Championship career to move up into 19th all-time in league history.
Notes:
– Alex Dixon recorded the first career hat trick in Monterey Bay F.C. history, the first of his career, in the first half of the Union’s season-opening victory.
– With his goal in the 2nd minute of the match [1:31], Alex Dixon scored the fastest goal in Club history.
– Max Glasser earned the start in his professional debut and tallied his first professional assist in the 39th minute of the match.
– In the 45th minute, Alex Dixon converted the first penalty kick in MBFC history.
– Watsonville’s Adrian Rebollar has now scored in back-to-back season openers for the Crisp and Kelp with his score in the 67th minute tonight and his goal against Phoenix on March 12 in the opener last season – a night that was also his professional debut.
– With a total of eight goals in the match, Cardinale Stadium saw its most combined goals scored in the venue’s history in the Union’s 5-3 victory.
– Monterey Bay F.C. tied its club high for goals scored in a single match with five, a mark that the Union reached on September 17, 2022 in a 5-0 victory over Indy Eleven.
– Missing the match due to injury were Grant Robinson (hamstring) and Simon Dawkins (knee).
Match: Monterey Bay F.C. vs Hartford Athletic
Date: March 11, 2023
Venue: Cardinale Stadium; Seaside, California
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and 59 degrees
Attendance: 3,615
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Monterey Bay F.C. 4 1 5
Hartford Athletic 2 1 3
MB: Alex Dixon 2’
HFD: Prince Saydee (Andre Lewis) 23’
MB: Alex Dixon (Max Glasser) 39’
HFD: Kaveh Rad (Niall Logue) 41’
MB: Alex Dixon (PK) 44’
MB: Kaveh Rad (Own Goal) 45’
MB: Adrian Rebollar (Sam Gleadle) 67’
HFD: Prince Saydee (Daniel Barrera) 76’
Lineups:
Monterey Bay F.C. (4-2-3-1): Antony Siaha; Max Glasser, Hugh Roberts, Kai Greene, Morey Doner; Adrian Rebollar, Mobi Fehr; Chase Boone (Jason Johnson 74’), Sam Gleadle (Arun Basuljevic 86’), Walmer Martínez (James Murphy 56’); Alex Dixon (Christian Volesky 73’)
Subs not used: Carlos Herrera, Alex Lara, Jesse Maldonado
Hartford Athletic (4-3-3): Richard Sanchez; Niall Logue, Kaveh Rad, Matthew Sheldon (Luke Merrill 59’), Tristan Hodge; Kembo Kibato (Walid Yacoubou 45’), Jeciel Cedeno (Danny Barrera 74’), Andre Lewis; Elvis Amoh, Antoine Hoppenot (Kyle Edwards 74’), Prince Saydee
Subs not used: Joseph Rice, Connor McGlynn, Jonathan Filipe
Stats Summary: MB / HFD
Shots: 11 / 8
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Saves: 1 / 1
Corner Kicks: 2 / 4
Fouls: 14 / 13
Possession: 43.3% / 56.7%
Misconduct Summary:
MB: Adrian Rebollar (caution) 23′
HFD: Elvis Amoh (caution) 50’
HFD: Niall Logue (caution) 64’
HFD: Walid Yacoubou (caution) 90+5’
Officials:
Referee: Elijio Arreguin
Assistant Referee: Stephen McGonagle
Assistant Referee: Andrew Hanks
Fourth Official: Michael Zapata
