Monterey Bay F.C. Bows Out of 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with 2-0 Defeat to Sacramento in Round of 32

SACRAMENTO, California (Tuesday, May 7, 2024) – Monterey Bay F.C. saw its time in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup come to an end in the Round of 32 for the second consecutive season following a 2-0 defeat to NorCal foes Sacramento Republic FC at Heart Health Park. 19-year-old midfielder Xavi Gnaulati made his long-awaited and highly-anticipated Club debut in the match, albeit amidst a heavy rotation by Monterey Bay that saw 10 total changes from the lineup over the weekend.

The first big chance of the night came from the hosts’ Damià Viader in the 18th minute. From the top of the box on the right side, Viader shook off a defender with a fancy dribble before curling it towards the top-right corner, but his shot just missed the framework. Two minutes later off of a corner kick, Rodrigo López had a look at goal, but his shot missed a bit wide of the left post. In the 27th minute, Viader drove down the left sideline for Sacramento Republic FC. With his left foot, Viader whipped a cross into the middle of the box that was blocked by Kai Greene, but the deflection was unlucky and re-directed the ball into the back of his own net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Less than five minutes later, Republic FC doubled its lead with a chip over the goalkeeper by Kieran Phillips to make it 2-0 Sacramento.

Pushing forward to cut into the lead, Luther Archimède put a shot on frame for Monterey Bay, but it was saved at the near post by the goalkeeper. Following a positive spell of possession for the Seasiders, Ryan Dieter brought the ball down inside the box in the 43rd minute, but his pass across the six aimed at Archimède was cleared away by Sacramento. Monterey Bay came close to cutting the lead in half in the first minute of first half stoppage time when Pierce Gallaway headed the ball forward to spark a solo counter for Walmer Martínez. At the end of his run, the Santa Cruz native created enough space to fire off a left-footed shot with pace that looked like it could sneak inside the near post when Danny Vitiello struggled to catch it cleanly, but before the ball could roll fully across the line, the goalkeeper managed to recover and jump back on top of it to quell the chance and send the sides into the break.

Archimède went down at the end of a run into the box in the 51st minute and was ultimately replaced by Tristan Trager due to an injury. In the 56th minute, Martínez played a mean ball ahead aimed for Trager, but the goalkeeper barely managed to beat the forward to the ball and clear it away. Trager then earned a free kick moments later. After Martínez’ first attempt was blocked by the wall, his follow-up screamer was on frame and looked dangerous, but it was deflected just wide for a corner to no avail. With the match nearing 90 minutes, Chase Boone played Trager on the counter down the left sideline with a terrific back heel. Trager flew forward with pace before playing it across to Martínez who was making a trailing run into the box. Martínez fired off a shot first time that looked likely to get Monterey Bay back into the match, but the blast was pushed up and over the crossbar by Vitiello and the Union’s U.S. Open Cup run came to an end in Sacramento.

Up Next

Monterey Bay F.C. returns home Saturday, May 11 to take on Western Conference newcomers, Memphis 910 FC in league play. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT at Cardinale Stadium. The match will be broadcast locally via KION on FOX 35 (46.2 over the air, 35 Dish, 47 DirecTV and 3/702 HD Xfinity) with live streaming available on ESPN+.