Monterey Bay FC enters the final months of the season in last place, but fortunes may have started to turn.

For the past few seasons, coaches and players have called it the Wild West. And since joining the league in 2022, Monterey Bay FC has anchored the USL Championship’s Western Conference. So far, 2026 has been true to form. MBFC enters August mired at the bottom of the 12-team conference at 4-3-10 on 15 points, 6 points in arrears of 11th place Las Vegas.

But the Western Conference is wild for a reason. With one club – first-place Orange County – on more than seven wins, coach Alex Covelo’s side entered last weekend at 5 points from playoff contention and 6 points from a secure spot mid-pack. A 2-1 home loss to the leaders on July 25 and a win by Las Vegas blunted that spurt of momentum. Still, since he took over the reins at the end of April, the Union has gone 4-1-5 to climb from early-season oblivion.

“That confirms what I’m saying,” Covelo observes. “Everything is possible. But we can’t lose focus.”

Coach Jordan Stewart opened the year in charge. But after the squad was winless through its first seven games, collecting only 2 points, Stewart was replaced by Covelo, who had previously piloted MLS side San Jose.

Noted for a possession-based style and team cohesion, Covelo says that gaining points is just a start. “For me, it has to be aligned with the way we play. We have to keep working every day.”

Despite the woeful start and grinding turnaround, he can point to some positives. Preseason Riley Bidois scored four goals in just six appearances before sidelined by injury. Paul Gindiri added his fourth to join Bidois as team leaders. Famed midfielder Sebastian Lletget, along with Gindiri and Omari Glasgow, consistently create scoring opportunities.

Covelo is impressed that the squad survived the first two months. “They show a lot of desire,” he says. “There are bumps, but we have to keep going.”

Once again, MBFC is finding success at home. At 4-1-4, all but two points have been claimed at Cardinale Stadium so far this season.

In previous campaigns, the bumps have upended MBFC’s playoff hopes. Should the Union manage a streak over the final three months that puts them in contention for postseason play, that final bump might be goal differential. Besides Monterey Bay at -10, only Phoenix (-1) and Las Vegas (-2) are currently in the negative.

But Covelo says he is excited: “We’re building what we want to build, in terms of identity.”