Monterey Bay Shares the Spoils in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Saturday, September 14, 2024) – Monterey Bay F.C. (7-13-8, 29 points) earned its eighth clean sheet of the season en route to a hard-fought point against Las Vegas Lights FC (10-8-10, 40 points) at Cashman Field. With six matches left to play in the 2024 USL Championship regular season, Monterey Bay still sits just two points shy of the playoff line in the Western Conference.

Monterey Bay earned an early chance just minutes into the match when Henderson, Nevada native Christian Volesky found himself with possession deep inside the box before playing the ball back to Grant Robinson in space above the box. Robinson immediately fired a low shot on target, but it was saved by Las Vegas goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena. In the 12th minute of the match, Walmer Martínez set up Kai Greene for a long-distance shot, but the attempt missed just wide. Monterey Bay continued to be the more active and dangerous side through the first quarter hour. Shortly after Greene’s chance, Volesky and Mobi Fehr teamed up to win the ball back off of a defender at the edge of the Lights FC box, but Fehr’s shot was blocked away by another defender. The ball was cleared back to Alex Dixon, who then found Xavi Gnaulati in space from nearly 25 yards out, but his outside-foot shot curled away from the far post. Las Vegas earned its best chance of the night in the 42nd minute when Valentin Noel found himself behind the Union back line and in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Carlos Herrera heroicly stonewalled the opportunity with a kick save to bring the first half to a close.

Las Vegas came out aggressively in the second half. Christian Pinzon drove into the right side of the box in the 54th minute and ended the run with a shot, but the attempt ricocheted off the post and out for a goal kick. Khori Bennett fired a shot on frame after the hosts created a turnover two minutes later, but Herrera rose up and pushed the ball up and over the crossbar. Gnaulati drove through the middle of the pitch in the 62nd minute before attempting to thread a ball to Diego Gutiérrez inside the box, but the ball was just a bit too far for Gutiérrez and the chance went awry. In the 88th minute, Michael Gonzalez made a nice turn down the left sideline to break beyond his defender, but his pass across the box to Max Glasser was sent out for a fruitless corner. In the 2nd minute of five added on, Khori Bennett’s chance inside the box was stopped. Herrera immediately sparked a lightning-quick counter for the Crisp-and-Kelp with a long, pin-pointed pass to Glasser, who flew past every defender down the right sideline to give himself a chance at a goal and win, but his shot was saved by Arozarena and the match ended in a nil-nil draw.

Up Next

Monterey Bay returns home for back-to-back matches at Cardinale Stadium. First up is Orange County SC next Saturday, September 21 for Hispanic Heritage Night in Week 29 of the 2024 USL Championship regular season. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast locally on KION (46 & 23 over the air, 46 Dish, 27 DirecTV and 5/705 HD Xfinity), with live streaming available on ESPN+.

Additional Notes

• Missing the match due to injury were Jerry Ayon (knee), Luther Archimède (knee), Chase Boone (knee), Jesse Maldonado (knee), Adrian Rebollar (ankle), and Tristan Trager (lower leg).

Information

Date: September 14, 2024
Venue: Cashman Field; Las Vegas, Nevada
Weather: Clear and 95 degrees

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F

Las Vegas Lights FC 0 0 0
Monterey Bay F.C. 0 0 0

Lineups

Las Vegas Lights (5-4-1): Raiko Arozarena; Gennaro Nigro, Maliek Howell (Grayson Doody, 82’), Ousman Jabang, Joe Hafferty, Shawn Smart (Khori Bennett, 45’); Christian Pinzon (Charlie Adams, 82’), Coleman Gannon (Joseph-Claude Gyau, 72’), Jean-Claude Ngando, Solomon Asante (Vaughn Covil, 87’); Valentin Noel
Subs not used: George Marks, Elias Gartig, All Gue

Monterey Bay F.C. (4-2-3-1): Carlos Herrera; Grant Robinson, Carlos Guzmán, Kai Greene, Morey Doner; Mobi Fehr, Pierce Gallaway (Max Glasser, 77’); Alex Dixon (Diego Gutiérrez, 29’), Xavi Gnaulati (Miguel Guerrero, 77’), Walmer Martínez; Christian Volesky (Michael Gonzalez, 59’)
Subs not used: Antony Siaha, Alex Lara, Ryan Dieter

Stats Summary: LV / MB

Shots: 16 / 10
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 1 / 5
Corner Kicks: 3 / 5
Fouls: 8 / 8
Possession: 61.5% / 38.5%

Misconduct Summary

LV: Shawn Smart (caution) 15’
MB: Christian Volesky (caution) 33’
MB: Xavi Gnaulati (caution) 52’
MB: Michael Gonzalez (caution) 77’

Officials

Referee: Adam Kilpatrick
Assistant Referee: Fernando Fierro
Assistant Referee: Miles Crumley
Fourth Official: Killian Richardson