Tacoma, WA–San Diego Loyal SC Manager Landon Donovan said his team played a near-perfect game last week. It had one mistake that led to a loss against Phoenix Rising.
The mistake: mishandling a ball at the goal line and not clearing it. Some of the same happened Thursday night in a 2-1 loss against host Tacoma Defiance in a Week 15 USL Championship match.
Tacoma Defiance found the net capitalizing on a pair of SD Loyal mistakes with goals by Azriel Gonzalez (50th minute) and Carlos Anguiano (65th). Tacoma Defiance found the net for a 1-0 lead when SD Loyal goalkeeper Trey Muse couldn’t handle a shot from Juan Alvarez. Instead, it was Gonzalez putting the ball past Muse, who tried diving on it. Gonzalez ran behind Muse and tapped it in for the 1-0 lead.
The goal came at a time that SD Loyal moved the ball fluidly and controlled the pace with a group of players Donovan normally doesn’t use in the starting lineup. The Tacoma goal forced Donovan to make a couple of subs that paid off. The moves helped the SD Loyal lines push forward finding a scoring play off the left flank.
Tumi Moshobane tied the match 1-1 in the 55th minute via a header. Moshobane dove to send it in over Andrew Thomas, the Tacoma Defiance goalkeeper. The scoring play came off a cross from Miguel Ibarra. The midfielder sprinted to the left corner of the field, turned to his left and sent the long cross after preventing it from going out. It found a charging Moshobane near the penalty spot for his third goal of the season.
The equalizer didn’t last long. Another SD Loyal mistake reared its head.
Tacoma Defiance took the lead again with Anguiano’s goal as he stole a soft pass by typical starter Jack Blake, who came off the bench for this match, near the top of the penalty box. Anguiano didn’t waste the opportunity as he put a move on Grant Stoneman and found a lane to shoot past Muse. SD Loyal tried to rally in stoppage time with a couple of shots on target but Thomas was there to catch the ball and make the saves.
It was not the start Donovan wanted for this two-match road trip. SD Loyal now has to head to Carson, Calif. to face LA Galaxy II Aug. 1 having lost two straight. Donovan’s squad was riding a nine-match unbeaten streak before losing to Phoenix last week on a goal that came off a fumbled ball by Muse at his line.
This is also the second loss to Tacoma Defiance this season after a 3-1 defeat May 13 in the second game of the season. SD Loyal had not lost on the road since the week after that at Louisville FC.
Scoring
TAC: 1-0 (50’) Azriel Gonzalez
SD: 1-1 (55’) Tumi Moshobane (Assist: Miguel Ibarra)
TAC: 2-1 (65’) (Assist: Azriel Gonzalez)
The lineup:
SD Loyal -16. Trey Muse, 5. Grant Stoneman (74’-14. Josh Yaro), 2. Morgan Hackworth, 8. Sal Zizzo (46’ -3. Elijah Martin), 33. Callum Montgomery, 11. Tumi Moshobane, 24. Miguel Ibarra (67’- 10. Alejandro Guido), 9. Ben Spencer, 6. Charlie Adams (46’ -Jack Metcalf), 42, Haji Abdikadir (46’ -7. Jack Blake), 31. Chase Boone (67’ -21. Corey Hertzog). Coach: Landon Donovan.
Tacoma Defiance: 26. Andrew Thomas, 72. Eric Kinzer, 99. Tom Brewitt, 74. Tayler Mueller, 36. Issa Rayyan, 81. Randy Mendoza, 97. Juan Alvarez (70’ -80. Rey Serrano), 88. Carlos Anguiano, 98. Samuel Adeiran (80’ – 32. Alec Diaz), 38. Azriel Gonzalez (90+2-82. Joey Hafferty), 34. Danny Robles (90+2 -39.Marlon Vargas). Coach: Wade Weber
