Monterey Bay Defeats Phoenix Rising FC 3-1

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USL Monterey Bay FC

Monterey Bay Defeats Phoenix Rising FC 3-1

March 30, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Monterey Bay FC News Release


SEASIDE, California - Monterey Bay FC (3-1-0, 9 points) defeated Western Conference foes Phoenix Rising FC (0-2-2, 2 points) 3-1 at Cardinale Stadium in Week 4 of the USL Championship regular season. Carlos Guzmán scored three minutes into the match, and Adrian Rebollar and Anton Søjberg bagged goals of their own in the second half to put the Crisp-and-Kelp over the top for the club's third league win on the trot, and the fourth in a row in all competitions.

For the second home match in a row, Monterey Bay hit the back of the net less than three minutes into the match. After earning an early free kick, the Crisp-and-Kelp executed a play developed straight off the training ground. Søjberg played the ball into Ilijah Paul making a run through the left side of the box. With his first touch, Paul turned and fired the ball back across the box toward Guzmán for the tap in, giving Monterey Bay the early 1-0 lead. 90 seconds later, Paul broke into the Phoenix box once again, but this time his cross was cleared away by a defender. Continuing to apply pressure, Monterey Bay earned a free kick from just outside the box in the 6th minute, but Mayele Malango's attempt missed just over the top of the crossbar. In the 9th minute, Xavi Gnaulati whipped in a corner kick that looked destined to sneak inside the far post directly from the corner flag, but the goalkeeper managed to tip it up and over the bar. In the 17th minute, Phoenix Rising FC leveled the match with a goal by Remi Cabral. The visitors looked to have another when Cabral flicked a header on frame in the 26th minute, but Nico Campuzano kept it out with an incredible diving effort - one that is sure to be a third nomination for Save of the Week already this season - and the half ended even at one apiece.

In the 62nd minute, Phoenix's Pape Boye received a second yellow card and was ejected from the match. Two minutes later, Rebollar buried a left-footed volley following a scramble in the box to put Monterey Bay in front 2-1. In the 68th minute, Carl Sainte received a straight red for a wreckless near the corner flag, leaving Phoenix with an improbable nine men for the final 22 minutes. Monterey Bay ramped up the pressure straight away. Luke Ivanovic drove down the left sideline before cutting into the middle of the pitch in the 71st minute. He played the ball to Rebollar on the right side, who then flicked it back into the box towards Søjberg. The Danish forward perfectly chested the ball up to himself and attempted a bicycle kick that would have brought the house down, but it was caught by the keeper. Two minutes later, Miles Lyons added his second assist in as many games with a beautifully cross into Søjberg, who this time made it count with a powerful header to the goalkeeper's left to extend the lead to the final scoreline of the night, 3-1 in favor of the Crisp-and-Kelp.

Up Next

Monterey Bay FC returns to 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play with a Second Round matchup against El Farolito SC at Cardinale Stadium on Tuesday, April 1. The match kicks off at 7 p.m. PT, with live streaming available on ESPN+.

Additional Notes

Ilijah Paul faced off against his former team Phoenix Rising FC, where he previously became the youngest player in club history to sign a professional contract at just 16 years old.

Missing the match due to injury was Alex Dixon (lower body), Diego Gutiérrez (lower body), and Adam Larsson (lower body).

Information

Date: March 29, 2025

Venue: Cardinale Stadium; Seaside, California

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 58°F

Attendance: 3,210

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F

Monterey Bay FC 1 2 3

Phoenix Rising FC 1 0 1

MB: Carlos Guzmán (Ilijah Paul) 3'

PHX: Remi Cabral (Ihsan Sacko) 17'

MB: Adrian Rebollar 64'

MB: Anton Søjberg (Miles Lyons) 73'

Lineups

Monterey Bay FC (4-1-3-2): Nico Campuzano; Grant Robinson, Carlos Guzmán, Nico Gordon, Miles Lyons (Joel Garcia Jr., 76'); Wesley Fonguck (Pierce Gallaway, 84'); Mayele Malango (Luke Ivanovic, 59'), Xavi Gnaulati (Ethan Bryant, 59'), Adrian Rebollar; Ilijah Paul, Anton Søjberg (Mobi Fehr, 85')

Subs not used: Sam Gomez, Alex Lara

Phoenix Rising FC (4-3-3): Triston Henry; Collin Smith, Pape Boye, Braxton Montgomery, Harvey Neville; Carl Sainte, Noble Okello (Jamison Ping, 77'), Hope Avayevu (Pierce Rizzo, 86'); Ihsan Sacko (Cyrus Kowall, 86'), Jearl Margaritha (Dariusz Formella, 77'), Remi Cabral (Darnell King, 69')

Subs not used: Patrick Rakovsky, Zachary Dasilva, Jan Villegas, Damian Rivera

Stats Summary: MB / PHX

Shots: 17 / 6

Shots on Goal: 8 / 3

Saves: 2 / 5

Corner Kicks: 5 / 1

Fouls: 16 / 20

Possession: 55.1% / 44.9%

Misconduct Summary

PHX: Noble Okello (caution) 2'

MB: Miles Lyons (caution) 15'

PHX: Jearl Margaritha (caution) 21'

PHX: Pape Boye (caution) 26'

MB: Xavi Gnaulati (caution) 40'

PHX: Harvey Neville (caution) 43'

MB: Anton Søjberg (caution) 55'

PHX: Pape Boye (caution, dismissal) 62'

PHX: Carl Sainte (dismissal) 68'

PHX: Jamison Ping (caution) 89'

Officials

Referee: Brandon Stevis

Assistant Referee: Eric Krueger

Assistant Referee: Alexander Arita

Fourth Official: Andrew Hanks

Check out the Monterey Bay FC Statistics

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