Back to back wins put Monterey Bay F.C. firmly in the hunt for a playoff spot.

While a playoff berth may have seemed beyond the realm of possibility as the team struggled early on, Monterey Bay F.C. has made a strong case for postseason play of late.

On Wednesday the Union blanked Orange County SC 1-0 at Cardinale Stadium in a rare midweek match. This came days after a come from behind 3-1 win over San Diego on Saturday, Sept. 3, also at home.

After taking points in seven of the past 10 matches, the Union find themselves in 9th place with 35 points—just 2 points behind 7th place Las Vegas, currently holding the final playoff slot. Monterey Bay travels to Nevada Saturday to take on the Lights.

With just seven matches remaining on Monterey Bay’s schedule, the outcome could be critical in the playoff chase.

“We control our own destiny,” says defender Kai Greene. “We just have to win. We just have to carry our momentum forward and we’ll be fine.”

For the second consecutive match, Sam Gleadle and goalkeeper Antony Siaha proved to be difference makers. Gleadle scored a brace on Saturday and his strike in the 52nd minute yesterday was the lone goal. Meanwhile Siaha notched his sixth clean sheet of the season against Orange County following a performance against San Diego that included three miraculous saves.

“Everyone has a job and that’s my job,” Siaha says of his goal-stopping ability. “My teammates did their job and I did my job.”

Fittingly, Siaha blunted Orange County in the opening minutes on Wednesday night, beating Milan Iloski, the league’s leader with 19 goals to his credit. From then on it was a lopsided affair—on the pitch, if not on the scoreboard.

Christian Volesky missed wide in the 11th minute and couldn’t get the ball past OC keeper Pat Rakovsky in the 26th. Ten minutes later, Grant Robinson created another opportunity that was missed.

In all, Monterey Bay targeted the goal seven times.

The game winner came thanks to a vital pass by James Murphy, who laced a through ball into Gleadle’s path. With a deft move, the Union midfielder eluded a defender and zipped the ball into the back of the net to record his third goal in the past two contests.

“The guys and I are starting to find some rhythm together and we’re playing really well,” Gleadle explains. “I’m just trying to find good spots to put myself in.”

Monterey Bay’s back line held firm against Iloski and the OC offense, limiting the visitors to just two shots on target.

“I’m trying to say this as humbly as possible, but they don’t face real defenders until they see us,” Greene said of Iloski and his goal-minded brethren. “When they come here and face real defenders, they find out what’s up.”

On Saturday Siaha kept the Union in contention against a San Diego side that was quickly on the front foot. Loyal’s striker Kyle Vassel raced through the Monterey Bay back line toward a one on one encounter with Siaha.

Recognizing the danger instantly, Siaha took a gamble and rushed to the top of the box, closing the gap. He managed to get a hand on the ball to keep the visitors off the board for the moment.

“When it was coming to me I just knew that I had to be set with my feet, be ready for the shot and not dive too early—and that’s what I did,” Siaha says. “That first half was crazy.”

Moments later, San Diego was on the attack again. This time Nick Moon arced the ball past the Union keeper’s reach to put the visitors up 1-0.

As halftime approached, however, Monterey Bay leveled the score. A long ball played by Greene landed ahead of Gleadle, who had charged past a drawn forward line. One touch and Gleadle drove the ball into the left corner to make it 1-1 at the break.

Monterey Bay took the lead for good in the 60th minute on link up play by Gleadle and Morey Doner. The latter’s long cross found Christian Volesky, rising above the fray to head it in.

The clincher came toward the end of regulation with San Diego a man down but still looking dangerous. After some pinball in the visitor’s 18-yard area, the ball strayed into the box. Gleadle was the first to arrive and sent a left-footer into the back of the net.

“The key was to get an equalizer in the first half, and we were able to do that,” Mobi Fehr notes. “That kind of got the wave going back in our favor.”

Monterey Bay enters the weekend a single point back of LA Galaxy II and 2 points down from Las Vegas, with a game in hand on each. Back to back wins brings their record to 11-2-14 on the year, after a 5-1-11 mark at the midpoint of the season.

The Union face Las Vegas on the road, returning home Saturday, Sept. 17, to welcome Eastern Conference foe Indy Eleven. They then host Phoenix in a Wednesday night match.