Monterey Bay Earns Victory in Pittsburgh Behind Herrera’s Clean Sheet and Bouda’s Stoppage Time Winner
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (Saturday, July 6, 2024) – Monterey Bay F.C. (7-8-4, 25 points) finished off a 1-0 smash and grab win over Riverhounds SC (3-9-6, 15 points) at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Ousseni Bouda scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time in his first-ever start for the Crisp-and-Kelp, while goalkeeper Carlos Herrera earned a clean sheet with a career-high nine saves in his first start of the season to lift Monterey Bay to victory away from home. Herrera’s nine saves tied the Club record for most in a single match, which was also tied as recently as the weekend before by his teammate Antony Siaha.
Nearly 15 minutes into the match, Herrera fired the ball ahead in an attempt to play Alex Dixon over the top on the counter, but the Pittsburgh goalkeeper cleared it away and into the stadium’s neighboring river, the 13th ball lost to the river of the season thus far. The hosts then earned a free kick four minutes later from just outside of the left corner of the box, but it was punched away by Herrera to deny an opportunity on net. Walmer Martínez whipped a great-looking ball into a wide open Rafa Baca inside the box in the 24th minute, but Baca was caught offside. Less than a minute later, Riverhounds SC put together an attack on the other end, but the shot by Robbie Mertz was saved by Herrera at the right post. Pittsburgh’s Edward Kizza had a point-blank look at goal from just outside the six-yard box in the 39th minute, but his shot was stonewalled by Herrera to keep the hosts off the board and the sides went scoreless into the halftime break.
Pittsburgh started the second half the same way they ended the first half, with what looked to be a great chance from Mertz, but his shot was parried away by Herrera once again. Monterey Bay’s first shot of the night came in the 52nd minute when Dixon attempted to chip the goalkeeper at the end of a long ball, but his shot missed just wide of the left post. Monterey Bay began to pile on the pressure around the hour mark, but Pittsburgh defense held serve against a solid spell of majority possession. As the Crisp-and-Kelp’s run of possession continued in the 62nd minute, Baca whipped a hopeful ball into the box towards Bouda, but the goalkeeper managed to punch it away. Another chance came immediately for the Union with Adrian Rebollar leading the counter, but the opportunity ended with a shot from Dixon missing wide left.
Riverhounds SC earned an opportunity in the 83rd minute with a ball pinging around the box, but the header by Babacar Diene was caught by Herrera. Pittsburgh attacked again less than a minute later. With the ball rolling across the 18-yard box just out of the reach of Kai Greene, Kenardo Forbes looked to hit it first time, but his shot missed the frame entirely. Then in the first of three stoppage time minutes, Herrera booted a ball all the way into the Pittsburgh half in an attempt to clear it away. The Riverhounds SC defender brought the ball down and played it softly back to his goalkeeper. Making a last-minute run, Bouda beat the goalkeeper to the ball and fired a right-footed shot into the back of the net to snatch victory away from home and give Monterey Bay all three points on the night.
Up Next
Monterey Bay welcomes FC Tulsa to Seaside on Saturday, July 13 for Ag & Country Night at Cardinale Stadium in Week 19 of the 2024 USL Championship regular season. The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. PT and will be broadcast locally via KION on FOX 35 (46.2 over the air, 35 Dish, 47 DirecTV and 3/702 HD Xfinity). Live streaming of the match will be available on ESPN+.
Golden Memorial Man of the Match
Tonight’s Golden Memorial Man of the Match goes to goalkeeper Carlos Herrera for his heroics in goal, playing a huge role in earning Monterey Bay its fifth shutout of the season. Herrera’s eight saves on the night matched his career-best mark set back on October 15, 2022 in the inaugural season finale in Edinburg, Texas against Rio Grande Valley FC.
Additional Notes
- Midfielder Rafa Baca returned from his red card suspension, and midfielder Mobi Fehr also returned to the pitch as a second-half substitute after missing the previous three matches due to injury.
- Forward Tristan Trager was unavailable for selection in the match for personal reasons.
- Missing the match due to injury were Luther Archimède (knee), Chase Boone (knee), Simon Dawkins (knee), Max Glasser (hamstring), Jesse Maldonado (knee), and Grant Robinson (foot).
Information
Date: July 6, 2024
Venue: Highmark Stadium; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Weather: Sunny and 83 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Riverhounds SC 0 0 0
Monterey Bay F.C. 0 1 1
MB: Ousseni Bouda 90+1’
Lineups
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (5-3-2): Eric Dick; Brun Etou, Luke Biasi, Abdul Osumani, Sean Suber, Langston Blackstock (Aidan O’Toole, 87’); Robbie Mertz (Kenardo Forbes, 65’), Jackson Walti, Bradley Sample; Edward Kizza (Enoch Mushagalusa, 87’), Emmanuel Johnson (Babacar Diene, 65’)
Subs not used: Jacob Randolph, Patrick Hogan, Daniel Rovira, Pablo Linzoain
Monterey Bay F.C. (4-2-3-1): Carlos Herrera; Walmer Martínez (Carlos Guzmán, 45’), Alex Lara, Kai Greene, Morey Doner; Pierce Gallaway (Mobi Fehr, 68’), Rafa Baca; Chuy Enríquez, Adrian Rebollar (Jerry Ayon, 68’), Alex Dixon; Ousseni Bouda
Subs not used: Antony Siaha, Xavi Gnaulati, Michael Gonzalez, Anthony Orendain
Stats Summary: PIT / MB
Shots: 18 / 6
Shots on Goal: 8 / 1
Saves: 0 / 1
Corner Kicks: 10 / 0
Fouls: 6 / 6
Possession: 52.4% / 47.6%
Misconduct Summary
MB: Adrian Rebollar (caution) 38’
Officials
Referee: Joe Surgan
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen McGonagle
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Milhoan
Fourth Official: Mohamed Sadraoui
