IRVINE, California (Saturday, July 9, 2022) – Monterey Bay F.C. (5-11-1, 16 points) defeated defending USL Championship Title Winners Orange County SC 2-0 at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine on Saturday night. Chase Boone and Christian Volesky scored for the Crisp and Kelp, Antony Siaha earned a clean sheet in his debut professional start, and the Union walked away with all three points.
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Possession was even throughout the first 25 minutes of the contest as both sides felt out the match before Orange County SC began to create opportunities. In the 26th minute, the hosts fired a shot from the top-right corner of the box that took a deflection off of a Monterey Bay F.C. defender and out for a corner. The ensuing corner was headed away by Walmer Martínez, but was quickly crossed back into the box for a headed attempt that missed over the crossbar. In the 36th minute, Morey Doner drew a foul in the opponent’s half that led to a quick restart of play by Robbie Crawford. Crawford immediately found Boone in space on the left side of the box, who turned and slotted the ball inside the near post to give the Crisp and Kelp the 1-0 lead at the halftime break.
Two minutes into the second half, Orange County SC forced Siaha into an impressive diving save at the near post, keeping the home side off the board. Still pressing for the equalizer, Orange County whipped a ball into the box in the 60th minute, but Siaha leaped up and snatched the cross out of the air to thwart yet another close chance for the hosts. Two minutes later, a fantastic ball from James Murphy set Doner up perfectly on the tail end of a run down the right flank. Doner fired a grass-burning ball into the box and Volesky tucked it into the back of the net to double the visitor’s lead at 2-0. The Union found themselves with two more chances to extend the lead late in the match. In the second minute of added time, Jason Johnson found Boone open in the center of the box, but his shot skied over the crossbar. A second chance in rapid succession came from Adrian Rebollar, but his run ended with a shot that missed just wide of the near post. A minute later, the referee blew the final whistle on a solid performance from the visitors, ending the match at 2-0 in favor of the Union.
Man of the Match: Morey Doner earned Man of the Match honors with his stellar overall performance in Irvine. The speedy defender won all eight of his duels, adding a tackle and an interception. While in possession, he won five fouls and completed 81% of his passes, the second highest mark for the Union on the night. Then to cap off his performance, Doner whipped the game-sealing assist into the box that led to Christian Volesky’s sliding finish in the 62nd minute.
Notes:
– Antony Siaha secured a clean sheet in his professional debut, becoming the second Union goalkeeper to complete that feat this season (Carlos Herrera, 1-0 vs Las Vegas, May 7), and the third goalkeeper to earn a clean sheet for the club overall.
– Missing the match due to injury were Rafi Díaz (shoulder), Sam Gleadle (knee), Mobi Fehr (ankle) and Jesse Maldonado (ankle).
Match: Orange County SC vs Monterey Bay F.C.
Date: July 9, 2022
Venue: Championship Soccer Stadium; Irvine, California
Weather: Sunny and 79 degrees
Attendance: 4,008
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Orange County SC 0 0 0
Monterey Bay F.C. 1 1 2
MB: Chase Boone (Robbie Crawford) 36’
MB: Christian Volesky (Morey Doner) 62’
Lineups:
Orange County SC (4-3-3): Colin Shutler; Alex Villanueva, Albi Skendi, Daniel Pedersen, Ian Hoffman; Tony Rocha, Thomas McCabe (Mikko Kuningas, 66’), Seth Casiple (Oluwakorede Osundina, 65’); Ivan Gutierrez (Sean Okoli, 45’), Erick Torres, Milan Iloski
Subs not used: Juan Santana, Jonathan Gomez, Brian Iloski, Aloisio dos Santos Goncalves
Monterey Bay F.C. (4-2-3-1): Antony Siaha; Grant Robinson, Hugh Roberts, Kai Greene, Morey Doner; Robbie Crawford, James Murphy; Chase Boone, Adrian Rebollar, Walmer Martínez (Simon Dawkins, 63’); Christian Volesky (Jason Johnson, 82’)
Subs not used: Carlos Herrera, Hunter Gorskie, Arun Basuljevic, Chris Cortez, Seku Conneh
Stats Summary: OC / MB
Shots: 8 / 5
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Saves: 0 / 2
Corner Kicks: 5 / 4
Fouls: 15 / 9
Possession: 62.6% / 37.4%
Misconduct Summary:
MB: Christian Volesky (caution) 14’
OC: Thomas McCabe (caution) 30’
OC: Alex Villanueva (caution) 36’
MB: Robbie Crawford (caution) 68’
MB: Kai Greene (caution) 73’
OC: Albi Skendi (caution) 79’
OC: Daniel Pedersen (caution) 81’
Officials:
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Assistant Referee: Salma Perez
Assistant Referee: Jose Vega
Fourth Official: Adrian Gonzalez
