Monterey Bay toppled 3-2 in a wild one against San Antonio on Saturday.

One of the accepted adages of sport is that on any day any team can beat any other. Saturday afternoon at Cardinale Stadium fortunes went against Monterey Bay F.C. 

“On a different day we would beat that team, and they are one of the best teams in the league,” observed Union forward Christian Volesky. "That’s how the story goes, it’s a beautiful game sometimes and it’s a tough game sometimes.”

In a contest that was at times wild, always tense and uncertain to the end, visiting San Antonio FC—9-0-3 entering the game, battling for top spot in the Western Conference—edged Monterey Bay 3-2. But the home side set the tone early on.

Less than 20 minutes into the game, Robbie Crawford played a through ball into the path of Volesky, streaking down the left side. With San Antonio’s back line caught off guard, Volesky blasted a shot into the right side for a 1-0 Union lead.

“We got the goal we deserved,” said midfielder James Murphy. “But obviously they were never just going to let us run away with the game.”

The visitors rallied, clawing momentum away from Monterey. Goalkeeper Carlos Herrera blocked one shot and then another. But he couldn’t control the second, and when Sam Strong tried a desperate clearance, he misfired for an own goal.

In the 43rd minute, San Antonio struck again. This time Justin Dhillon beat Herrera and the visitors took a 2-1 advantage into the half.

Momentum is for the taking, however. As the second half got underway, it was the Union back on the attack. Hugh Roberts directed a header on target in the 55th minute. San Antonio keeper Jordan Farr deflected it away. Volesky and Strong had chances from short range, but the visitors’ defense held firm.

Still on the offensive in the 68th minute, Morey Doner drove an inviting cross into the box. Unable to take it on cleanly, San Antonio’s Jordy Delem instead sent it into his own goal for a Monterey Bay equalizer.

“There were a lot of ups and downs in this game, more so than normal,” Volesky said. “We came back, got a goal—maybe could have had two or three more—and then unfortunately when we were pushing forward we gave up a late goal.”

That came in the waning minutes of regulation, Santiago Patino doing the damage.

Monterey Bay was not done. The team fired a season high 18 shots on the day. They bombarded the San Antonio goal in added time, but to no avail. And they lost their most dangerous aerial threat when Roberts was booked for the second time and sent off.

There is always a third team on the pitch, and the referees played a role in the match, showing a total of 10 yellow cards and dismissing Roberts at a critical moment.

“At the end of the day, we can’t really blame anyone but ourselves, we had a couple of moments where we lacked concentration,” Herrera noted. “We can sit here and blame the refs all we want, but at the end of the day we need to do better.”

Monterey Bay is now 4-0-9 on the year. They travel to Los Angeles for a midweek match against LA Galaxy II on Wednesday and return home to face Sacramento on June 25.