Monterey Bay F.C. gets revenge on Sacramento with 1-0 shutout.

Christian Volesky scored from a set piece in the 14th minute and Monterey Bay F.C. held on the rest of the way against a physical Sacramento side on Saturday to claim a 1-0 win at Cardinale Stadium.

The goal followed a foul on Morey Doner, who had driven the ball well into Sacramento’s half of the pitch. James Murphy took the free kick and sailed the ball into the box. Both Volesky and Hugh Roberts raced forward, with Volesky reaching the ball first and whipping a header past Sacramento’s Daniel Vitello, igniting the crowd of 3,600.

Sacramento had out-dueled Monterey Bay in their two previous meetings, both by 2-1 scores. And they opened the match with apparent confidence.

But a diving save by Union goalkeeper Antony Siaha of a point blank blast by Keko in the 5th minute gave the home side a boost.

“The fact that we beat a quality team was alright, but we owed these guys,” Roberts says. “It was us fighting—not doing it pretty, but doing it ugly knowing that we were going against our rivals. We were up for the challenge tonight.”

As the match wore on, neither side could find the rhythm they showed early on. Also Sacramento held possession 60 percent of the time and threw attackers forward, Monterey Bay’s defense remained firm. The visitors managed just two shots on target.

In the previous outings, Sacramento had scored the game winners in the final 15 minutes of play. Head coach Frank Yallop swapped in fresh legs and size at the top of the Union’s 4-2-3-1 formation with Jason Johnson, Seku Conneh and Hunter Gorskie entering the game late in regulation.

Monterey Bay was playing their third game in eight days.

“We couldn’t maintain our normal pressing and work rate, but we did a nice job of being compact in the second half and making it difficult against a team that’s good,” Yallop explains. “I’m pretty happy by the way we went through it.”

The Union created a few chances for breathing space in the second half. But shots by Simon Dawkins in the 75th minute and Johnson seven minutes later skipped wide.

With the win, Monterey Bay tallied their third consecutive positive result at home. They are now 9-2-12 on the season, standing on 29 points. The club travels to New Mexico on Saturday before returning home against LA Galaxy II on Aug. 28.

Murphy almost escaped without an infraction, but drew a yellow in the 89th minute, his ninth on the year. He will miss Saturday’s road game as a result.

Still Murphy got the assist and proved to be valuable defensively in the midfield, earning man of the match honors.

“We probably weren’t good enough on the ball, and I think [Sacramento] would say the same for themselves,” Murphy says. “At the end of the day, we battled through a tough game and got three points, so we’re happy about that.”