San Diego Loyal came out with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Monterey Bay FC on Aug. 10 at Torero Stadium, which helps the team, led by head coach Landon Donovan, to stay within eyesight of first place in the Western Conference.

After a scoreless first half, San Diego took advantage of a penalty call on the visitors early in the second half that midfielder Charlie Adams put by goalkeeper Antony Siaha in the 59th minute. Siaha, a former San Diego Loyal player, had five-straight shutout performances with his new team that helped the USL Championship expansion team go undefeated during that span.

Loyal goalkeeper Koke Vegas was also key in the win recording his second-consecutive clean sheet and third in the last five games.

“I think that the thing is in this sport that everything works in unison,” said Adams. “So, you don’t just attack separately and defend separately, you do both things at once. It’s coming together now at a really good time in the season.”

San Diego has now won eight of its last nine matches including a 3-0 drubbing of Western Conference leader San Antonio FC, which also won its match on Wednesday. As things currently stand, San Diego is in second-place eight points ahead of third-place Colorado Switchbacks and four points behind San Antonio.

San Diego now has a two-game road trip starting Saturday, Aug. 13 against Birmingham Legion, followed by a game at El Paso Locomotive on Aug. 20. San Diego comes back home to play Oakland Roots at Torero Stadium on Aug. 24.

Photo courtesy San Diego Loyal SC