PLAYOFF-BOUND LOYAL PICK UP POINT WITH TIE
The San Diego Loyal came into Sunday’s match already having reached one of its goals: earn a playoff spot.
Coach Landon Donovan’s
team had already clinched a spot in the USL Championship postseason berth the night before stepping onto the pitch for its second to last home match. None of that mattered, the
Loyal came out with a business-like effort in a 1-1 draw against visiting
New Mexico
United at Torero Stadium for a point in an effort to gain a first-round home match.
Honduran midfielder Douglas Martinez Jr. helped the Loyal (14-10-5) to an earned point with a 61st-minute goal.
However, the New Mexico United tied the match in stoppage time when Ilija Ilic hit a precise shot from inside the 6yard box to beat Loyal goalkeeper Austin Guerrero.
“This was a playoff-like game,” Guerrero said. “It’s the end of the season and everyone is fighting everyone to make the playoffs. They’re fighting and have their hopes (to get in) and we are trying to get the best seed possible, so, it felt like a playoff game. To me it was a playoff game.”
“It was a great goal,” Donovan said about the equalizer by New Mexico. “It was a great cross and a great finish. We talked all week about how they scored, I think, a third of their goals on set pieces. It didn’t come off the first part of the set piece but on the second phase. We were very good the entire match and the last moment we weren’t. Give them credit. It’s probably a great result.”
The Loyal are now unbeaten in their last four matches.
More soccer
Ansu Fati is quickly becoming Barcelona’s go-to player in the absence of Lionel Messi. The 18-year-old Fati made his first start for Barcelona after a long injury layoff, scoring a goal and earning his team a penalty as the Catalan club halted its losing streak by rallying to beat Valencia 3-1 in the Spanish league.
Callum Wilson headed Newcastle in front only 107 seconds into the new era under Saudi ownership before the hosts lost 3-2 to Tottenham in the Premier League. It leaves Newcastle with three points from eight games, stuck in the relegation zone and with no ability to spend on new players until the January transfer window. Victor Osimhen soared in for a towering header nine minutes from time and Napoli extended its perfect start to Serie A with a 1-0 win over Torino.
Bayern Munich wanted to send a message to fellow title contenders like Bayer Leverkusen. Message sent. Bouncing back from a rare loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in its last game, Bayern dismantled Leverkusen 5-1 with two goals apiece from Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry.
Cristian Casseres Jr. scored in the third minute and the New York Red Bulls (11-11-7) beat New York City FC (11-11-7) 1-0 in MLS play at Harrison, N.J.
Baseball
Major League Baseball says its owners agreed to begin providing housing to certain minor league players beginning in the 2022 season. MLB did not specify which players would be covered by the new policy.
ESPN, citing anonymous sources, first reported on the owners’ decision, saying the league would require major league teams to provide housing either via stipends to fully cover rent or by arranging the lodging themselves.
The move is expected to ease the burden on players, some of whom have incomes from teams that fall below the federal poverty line of $12,880 for individuals.
While teams generally arrange for hotel accomodations for road trips, players have largely been left to find their own housing for homestands. The level of assistance provided by teams varies widely — lowerlevel affiliates sometimes arrange host families for younger players, and some organizations have offered housing stipends to some or all players. The Houston Astros are believed to have become the first team in baseball to provide furnished apartments to all players when they did so for the 2021 season.
Local colleges
Sophomore keeper Cameron Illingworth made seven saves, a career high, and recorded the first shutout of her collegiate career as the San Diego State women’s soccer team (6-9-1, 4-3-1 Mountain West) played San Jose State to a 0-0 tie on the road.
The UC San Diego women’s soccer team (4-8-2, 2-3-1 Big West) scored twice in the second half to tie the match, but Cal Poly (10-6, 6-1) scored in the 99th minute to beat the Tritons, 3-2, at San Luis Obispo.