Albion San Diego regained the second spot in the NISA West Division standings after a 2-1 victory over the Maryland Bobcats on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at Cal State San Marcos.
The Bobcats took the lead in the 27th minute after a breakaway opportunity saw forward Elijah Amo beat the Albion defense where he passed the ball to his teammate Davey Mason who was streaking down the middle of the field and was able to kick it over goalkeeper Ben Roach for the 1-0 lead.
Both teams created a fair amount of chances for the remained of the first half with Albion drawing even in the first minute of added time when midfielder Pablo Pelaez sent a long pass to forward Alioune Diakhate who was able to control the ball and shoot it by goalkeeper Felix Annan to tie the game 1-1.
“I thought the boys were terrific,” said Albion San Diego head coach Ziggy Korytoski. “While we controlled the game early on, it was disappointing to go behind in the first half. Credit to our group, we were able to equalize right before the half which gave us a ton of momentum.”
The second half saw a more wide-open style of play with the teams exchanging several scoring opportunities forcing both goalkeepers to come up with big saves.
Albion eventually broke through in the 69th minute when midfielder Eduard Puga found Diakhate, who is now tied for second-most goals scored in the league this season with seven, running down the side for a one-on-one opportunity with Annan that he put in the back of the net with a left-footed strike from inside the box.
Maryland pushed its lines forward trying to get the tying score, coming close to tying the match first in the 90th minute with a close-range shot that Roach was able to block with his left knee, followed by a free kick from 25 yards out from defender Brandon Clegg that was punched out of bounds.
“I thought we started the second half strong with a number of opportunities and eventually got the goal,” Korytoski added. “We saw the game out and am very very pleased with the result today.”
Now sitting in second place ahead of Bay Cities FC due to a better goal differential, while having played three fewer matches, Albion next faces division leader Cal United Strikers on Saturday, Aug. 20, at Championship Stadium in Irvine before returning home to take on Flower City Union on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker
