USL San Diego Loyal

SD Loyal Ends Week of Road Matches with 4-2 Win at Las Vegas Lights

September 26, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
San Diego Loyal News Release


Las Vegas, Nev. - SD Loyal coach Landon Donovan talked about it earlier in the season. He would eventually have the luxury of having an arsenal of attackers to his disposal. It would be such a bonus that he could tap into the bench for some of them.

That was the case Saturday night. Donovan opted to start his pair of in season acquisitions in Augustine Williams and Douglas Martinez Jr. leaving his leading scorer on the bench. Donovan called upon his goal scorer after Martinez had to come off due to an injury from taking a shot to the face in the first half.

The move paid off as SD Loyal got a pair of second half goals from Tumi Moshobane to spark a 4-2 come-from-behind win against host Las Vegas Lights at Cashman Field.

Donovan had to bring on Moshobane 38 minutes into the game following Martinez' injury and Las Vegas had taken a 1-0 lead with a goal by Danny Trejo in the 27th minute. Trejo had sent in a cross from Christopher Jaime.

Trejo beat goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira to the low rolling cross and buried it into the net. The scoring play came off a counterattack that began with Caleb Jennings intercepting a pass with a slide and sending the ball up field. He later touched it again, feeding Jaime the ball before the cross and assist.

Las Vegas Lights gave SD Loyal some trouble after that goal as Donovan's squad tried to find its rhythm. It found it soon after Moshobane came on. It tied the game in the 39th minute when Alejandro Guido tapped in a ball with his left foot near the right post. Alex Rando, the Las Vegas Lights goalkeeper, couldn't hold on to a rolling ball off a cross by SD Loyal's Miguel Ibarra. Guido, who had crashed a shot off the right post earlier in the match, kept pursuit and sent it in as he slid and fell to the ground out of bounds, right of the post. It was Guido's fourth goal of the season and his third against Las Vegas this season.

"I was just really disappointed with the performance," Donovan said of the early part of the match. "We were flat, we were hesitant, and we weren't aggressive in any facet of the game. Thankfully, we got the goal going before halftime. The beauty with Guido is that he has filled in at different positions. I am happy with his week. He had a very good week and his goal was huge, too."

SD Loyal (12-10-4, 40 points) didn't let off after Guido's score. It continued with two near scores with a shot by Charlie Adams over the crossbar, a score by Williams that was disallowed for offsides and a volley by Corey Hertzog that nearly crossed the goal line in the 53rd minute. Rando managed to sprint and slap the ball at his goal line at the last moment.

It was Moshobane making the difference, scoring in a span of four minutes. His first goal of the Week 23 USL Championship match came in the 65th when he put back his own shot that was blocked by Rando. Moshobane had sprinted into the penalty box with four defenders guarding the area. The speedy midfielder got his right-footed shot, was blocked by Rando but it came right back to him and was able to find the net. It was Moshobane's ninth goal of the season.

"Thankfully Tumi did what Tumi does," Donovan said about his leading scorer. "We weren't as good as we are but thankfully, we showed we could do better and that we had a guy that could change things for us. He likes to pressure teams when he's like that he is a really good player. I am proud of him on how he has reacted to a difficult first part of the season."

The Soweto, South Africa native had a hard time finding the neat early in the season. He found the net again Saturday four minutes after his first goal. He scored in a similar fashion as he fired in a short pass from Ben Spencer from inside the area, sending it off a defender and into the Las Vegas net for the 3-1 lead and for his team-leading tenth of the season.

Las Vegas cut that lead to 3-2 when Jennings was left wide open on the right side of the penalty box. That's where Julian Vazquez found Jennings with a floating pass from the left in the 73rd minute.

It didn't take long for SD Loyal to score again. And the next goal had Moshobane also involved. He fed Williams a rolling pass from the left as he charged into the box. The ball made it all the way across to near the right post where Williams had beaten his mark and tapped in the ball just inside the right post to seal the scoring for the night.

The win gives SD Loyal three more points in the Pacific Division standings as it finishes a week that included two-road matches and three games in a span of six days. It was the first time SD Loyal earns a win after initially trailing on the road.

Donovan's team earned points against Las Vegas in each of its four meetings this season, scoring 13 goals against the team from the desert. SD Loyal remains in second place in the table as it seeks a spot in the post season with six regular season matches remaining.

SD Loyal will return home to begin preparing for another road match, this time a Week 24 affair at LA Galaxy II on Saturday Oct. 2 at Dignity Health Sports Park .

SCORING

1-0: LV (27') Danny Trejo (Assist: Christopher Jaime)

1-1: SD (39') Alejandro Guido

1-2: SD (65') Tumi Moshobane (Assist: Corey Hertzog)

1-3: SD (69') Tumi Moshobane (Assist: Ben Spencer)

2-3: LV (73') Caleb Jennings (Assist: Julian Vazquez)

2-4: SD (77') Augustine Williams (Assist: Tumi Moshobane)

LINEUPS:

SD Loyal -30. Dylan Castanheira, 24. Miguel Ibarra, 5. Grant Stoneman, 14. Josh Yaro) 3. Elijah Martin, 21 Corey Hertzog (68'- 9. Ben Spencer), 6. Charlie Adams, 17. Collin Martin (68'- 2. Morgan Hackworth), 10. Alejandro Guido, 27. Douglas Martinez (38'- 11. Tumi Moshobane), 26. Augustine Williams (89' -33. Callum Montgomery). Coach: Landon Donovan.

Las Vegas Lights - 30. Alex Rando, 31. Dylan Presto, 3. Mohamed Traore (73' -4. CC Uche), 28. Antonio Leone, 27. Armando Avila, 15. Tristan Weber (61'- 7. Bruce El-Mesmari), 23. Christopher Jaime (61'- 6. Nathan Sepulveda), 20. Frank Daroma, 21. Christian Torres (71'- 33. Julian Vazquez), 26. Caleb Jennings, 10. Daniel Trejo. Coach: Steve Cherundolo

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 26, 2021


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