Monterey Bay F.C. must ‘dust ourselves off’ after last-minute loss hurts playoff hopes.

As the clock ticked closer to 90 minutes at Cardinale Stadium on Wednesday night, Sept. 20, Monterey Bay F.C. looked to be on the verge of a fifth consecutive win—one that would provide a huge boost to the club’s hopes of making the USL Championship playoffs.

Yet a victory over Western Conference rivals San Diego Loyal evaporated in the course of three minutes courtesy of two late goals from the visitors’ 18-year-old midfielder Xavi Gnaulati, who came on as a substitute in the 80th minute to deliver his team a comeback 3-2 victory—and deal Monterey Bay’s playoff hopes a major blow.

It was a stunning reversal of MBFC’s own comeback win over Las Vegas Lights four nights prior, when they overcame an early 2-0 deficit and scored three unanswered goals to seal the win. This time, it was the Union on the wrong end of a result that leaves the club just one point clear in the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot with four games left to play.

“To concede two late goals is very tough to take,” Monterey Bay Head Coach Frank Yallop said of Gnaulati’s goals in the 90th and 93rd minutes. “But you’ve got to hand it to them, [San Diego] kept going and got two goals. Tough night—the guys are disappointed.”

Yallop acknowledged that San Diego “played well” and likely deserved at least a draw out of the game. The Loyal dominated possession to the tune of 72 percent, and created 18 shots to MBFC’s 12 (including eight shots on target, to the Union’s four). Yet Monterey Bay had admirably withstood San Diego’s dominance in the second-half, defending stoutly as a unit to preserve their 2-1 halftime lead until Gnaulati’s late cameo seized the game away.

The Union jumped ahead in the 23rd minute thanks to a quick counter-attacking goal by Sam Gleadle—who was fed a lovely floating assist from recent signing Rafael Baca—and doubled their lead after Alex Lara headed in James Murphy’s curled free kick from the edge of the penalty area in the 37th minute. But San Diego worked their way back into the game just before halftime, after Monterey Bay defender Hugh Roberts and goalkeeper Carlos Herrera both failed to deal with a speculative, 30-yard cross into the box—leaving the goal open for Adrien Perez’s 44th minute header.

MBFC should have sealed the game in the 89th minute when the ball dropped to Watsonville native and CSU Monterey Bay alum Adrian Rebollar just six yards in front of San Diego’s goal. But Rebollar somehow scuffed his shot clear of the crossbar; a little over a minute later, Gnaulati slotted in the equalizer off a cross that found him unmarked near the penalty spot. That gave San Diego the confidence to push for a winner, and after Herrera parried away a San Diego header, the teenager was there to volley in the rebound. The Loyal’s bench emptied out and ran down the sideline to swarm Gnaulati before a stunned Cardinale Stadium crowd. 

The result put an end to the Union’s winning streak, which itself was a startling reversal of form for a club that had been on a woeful run previously. Monterey Bay went nine games without a win from July 1 through August 19, a terrible stretch that had looked to put the club’s playoff hopes on life support.

Yet Yallop and his players engineered a turnaround after the veteran coach switched to a five-man backline that solidified the team defensively and put his faith in big, athletic striker Ugo Okoli up top. Herrera had also been in fine form since supplanting Antony Siaha in goal, while Mexican midfielder Baca brought in needed quality and experience after joining from Liga MX club Cruz Azul in July. 

“I just think we came together as a group and said, ‘Guys, this isn’t good enough,’” Gleadle reflected after the game when asked about MBFC’s recent turnaround. “The effort was there for the most part, but I just think we had to tweak some things, get back to the basics…Today was a good performance—but if you don't do it for the full 90, especially against a good team like that, you get punished.”

Yallop was at pains afterward not to lay blame on Rebellar, while admitting that the young midfielder had “a great chance to make it 3-1 and probably win the game.” 

“If you see the game, it changes from one minute us missing a really good chance, to them going down the other end scoring and getting the winner,” Yallop noted. “That’s football—it’s a crazy sport. You can win it quickly, you can lose it quickly.”

With only four games left in the club’s up-and-down, roller-coaster ride of a second season, the coach insisted that the team would now “dust ourselves off and get ready for the weekend, which is a big game now.” 

That game comes Saturday night, Sept. 23, against Oakland Roots, yet another California rival competing with Monterey Bay for a Western Conference playoff spot. The Union will make the trip up to Hayward to take on the Roots; the two sides are equal on 40 points, yet Oakland sits two places ahead on goal difference.

MBFC will then travel down to San Diego for a grudge match with the Loyal before journeying east to Alabama to take on Birmingham Legion. They’ll wrap up the regular season back home in Seaside against Orange County SC on Oct. 14.

Should they put Wednesday night’s shocking defeat behind them and regain their late-summer form, that could be followed by the young club’s first-ever playoff appearance. If not, it will be a long winter back to the drawing board for Monterey Bay.