Monterey Bay Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive with Fiery Win in Phoenix
PHOENIX, Arizona (Friday, October 4, 2024) – Monterey Bay F.C. (8-14-9, 33 points) earned its first win in the Jordan Stewart era with a 2-1 victory over Phoenix Rising FC (9-11-9, 36 points) at Rising Stadium, against the club for which Stewart played the final season of his playing career. Mobi Fehr ended the Club’s scoring drought with a right-footed strike and Carlos Guzmán played a role in the Union’s second score of the night to push Monterey Bay over the top and keep its playoff hopes alive with three matches left to play.
Both sides spent the first quarter hour of the match feeling things out, but it was Monterey Bay who would strike first. In the 15th minute with the Crisp-and-Kelp on the attack, Christian Volesky laid the ball off to Walmer Martínez, who scanned the landscape before looping the ball towards Morey Doner just above the box on the right side. With his first touch, Doner tapped it to Fehr, who let it fly from the top of the half circle. The ball took a deflection on its way in and beat the goalkeeper to his left as it was buried into the back of the net to officially end the Union’s scoring drought at 557 minutes. A few minutes later, Fehr had another opportunity at goal from above the box, this time on the left side, but his curling shot just missed the top-right corner. In the 39th minute, Phoenix looked likely to score when a botched clearance saw the ball fall perfectly to Tomas Angel inside the box, but his left-footed strike was saved by Carlos Herrera. Then just before the half in the 44th minute, a corner kick for Monterey Bay resulted in Guzmán looping a ball back into the box, but the ball instead went untouched, bounced up high, and slipped through the goalkeeper’s hands just under the crossbar on its way down to double the lead for the Crisp-and-Kelp at the halftime break.
Eight minutes into the second half, Angel fired a left-footed shot from distance, but Herrera dove across the goal to deny the chance at the left post and keep the match at 2-0. In the 67th minute, Doner placed a perfect cross at the far post for Volesky, but he was unable to direct his header on frame with a defender draped all over him and the chance was missed. Laurence Wyke had a chance inside the box for the hosts in the 72nd minute, but a right-footed shot was saved again by Herrera for his fifth save of the night. Phoenix Rising FC eventually pulled one back in the 84th minute with a right-footed shot by Dariusz Formella just outside the six yard box to bring the score to 2-1. Phoenix attacked frantically in search of the equalizer in the final minutes, applying immense pressure on Monterey Bay defensively. And just before the final whistle, Phoenix had one last dangerous look off the foot of Juan Azocar, but the shot missed wide to the right and the Crisp-and-Kelp held on for their first win in the Jordan Stewart era.
Up Next
Monterey Bay returns to the road against Sacramento Republic FC on Wednesday, October 9. Kickoff from Heart Health Park is set for 7 p.m. PT. Live streaming of the match will be available on ESPN+.
Golden Memorial Man of the Match
Carlos Herrera is tonight’s Golden Memorial Man of the Match for his outstanding performance in goal in the victory. Through six starts this season, goalkeeper Carlos Herrera has now amassed an impressive 87.1% save percentage on 31 shots faced with a 0.67 goals allowed average and three clean sheets.
Additional Notes
- Morey Doner’s first half assist was the 10th of his career in Crisp and Kelp, moving all alone into the Club lead for assists all time while also becoming the first player in Club history to reach double digits in the category.
- Alex Lara made his 100th career appearance in USL Championship in his return to the lineup tonight.
- Missing the match due to injury were Luther Archimède (knee), Jerry Ayon (knee), Chase Boone (knee), Alex Dixon (illness), Jesse Maldonado (knee), Grant Robinson (calf), and Tristan Trager (lower leg).
Information
Date: October 4, 2024
Venue: Phoenix Rising Stadium; Phoenix, Arizona
Weather: Clear and 96 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Phoenix Rising FC 0 1 1
Monterey Bay F.C. 2 0 2
MB: Mobi Fehr (Morey Doner) 15’
MB: Rocco Rios Novo (own goal) 44’
PHX: Dariusz Formella 84’
Lineups
Phoenix Rising FC (4-2-3-1): Rocco Rios Novo; Laurence Wyke (Juan Azócar, 74’), Gabriel Torres (Pape Boye, 45’), Alejandro Fuenmayor, Mohamed Traore; Renzo Zambrano, Jearl Margaritha, Charlie Dennis (Damien Barker John, 83’), Tomás Ángel (Giulio Doratiotto, 74’), Darius Johnson (Dariusz Formella, 61’); Rémi Cabral
Subs not used: Skylar Odle, Patrick Rakovsky, José Hernández, Jamison Ping
Monterey Bay F.C. (3-5-2): Carlos Herrera; Carlos Guzmán, Alex Lara, Kai Greene; Walmer Martínez, Adrian Rebollar, Pierce Gallaway, Mobi Fehr, Morey Doner; Michael Gonzalez (Xavi Gnaulati, 59’), Christian Volesky (Anthony Orendain, 80’)
Subs not used: Antony Siaha, Max Glasser, Miguel Guerrero, Diego Gutiérrez, Ryan Dieter
Stats Summary: PHX / MB
Shots: 22 / 8
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 0 / 5
Corner Kicks: 8 / 6
Fouls: 12 / 10
Possession: 62.4% / 37.6%
Misconduct Summary
PHX: Renzo Zambrano (caution) 25’
MB: Carlos Guzmán (caution) 61’
Officials
Referee: Brandon Stevis
Assistant Referee: Austin Holt
Assistant Referee: Bruno Rizo
Fourth Official: Pavel Georgiev
