A great start, poor finish for United
Real Monarchs rally from 2-0 hole for win
A fast start unraveled into a frustrating finish for New Mexico United on Wednesday night.
Host Real Monarchs SLC overcame a 2-0 deficit and largely controlled the second half of a 3-2 victory over United in Herriman, Utah. New Mexico’s streak of five straight wins at Zions Bank Stadium ended as the youthful Monarchs controlled most of the second half.
Daniel Bruce and Andrew Tinari hammered in long-range goals for United (4-4-2), which appeared to have things well under control for the first 30 minutes. But the Monarchs (2-54) answered with two long blasts of their own — along with a 1-on-1 score inside the box — to turn the tables on the visitors.
United coach Troy Lesesne said his team was frustrated by its inability to finish after an impressive start.
“This is the second time this season we’ve held a lead and had a chance to earn three points and didn’t finish,” Lesesne said. “That was the message I heard from the group, when we have a lead we have to get points.”
United did have a decided edge in possession (59%) and outshot the home side 20-10, but even a late barrage of shots and extended pressure could not produce a tying goal.
The result took some of the luster off United goalkeeper Philip Beigl’s first career start — although Beigl could hardly be blamed for at least two of the Monarchs’ scores. Beigl, 28, became the oldest player to make his first professional start in USL Championship play. Alex Tambakis started each of New Mexico’s first nine matches this season.
“Phil’s been through three years with us and he earned it,” Lesesne said. “Also, with us playing FridayWednesday-Saturday matches, I wanted to keep Alex fresh for the long haul.”
The contrast in goalkeepers was
striking as Real Monarchs started 16-year-old Gavin Beavers, who last week became the youngest goalie to start a USL Championship match.
Both goalkeepers came up with some impressive stops, but neither could do much about the long-range opportunities. United cashed in the first one when Bruce fired a 25-yard bullet into the lower left corner in the 22nd minute to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Tinari followed four minutes later with a hesitation move to get himself free just outside the box. His bending left-foot shot made the score 2-0 and New Mexico seemed on its way to extending its dominance over the Monarchs.
“I was clearly happy with our start,” Lesesne said. “We set the pace we wanted.”
The Monarchs got one back in the 38th minute when Justin Portillo hammered a long shot from straight on that bounced once and kicked past a diving Beigl and into the left corner of the net.
The home side capitalized on a poor sequence by United’s defense early in the second half. Extended pressure by the Monarchs paid off when Aris Briggs collected a pass into the box and knocked it past Beigl to even things at 2-2 in the 42nd minute.
After Brian Brown and
Devon Sandoval were narrowly turned away on closerange scoring chances, the Monarchs got what would be the game-winner on a slicing, 45-yard bullet by Noah Powder that was out of Beigl’s reach.
“It’s hard to defend giving up three goals,” Lesesne said, “but at least two of those were just individual moments that its hard to do anything about. Overall, I thought we played to our style and our identity but we also made some big mistakes and paid dearly for them.”
United concludes its threematch road string Saturday night at El Paso Locomotive FC.