This one follows off a bit from my previous posts (check the tags), but reigning champs San Antonio faced off against rising upstarts Monterey Bay on Saturday. While San Antonio came up to an unsurprising start with an early goal from Nikolaj Hansen off a breakaway (kicking the shot through the goalie's legs, no less!), about a third through the second half Monterey Bay answered with an equalizer from a strong shot from Sam Gleadle.
But it's the third goal of the game that I think was the most interesting of the weekend. Not just because of the significance of the two teams involved, but also because of the sheer quality of the shot.
If the embedded video doesn't start, the big one's clip starts at 2:48 into the video.
There's some great play around the edge of the box to get Zico Bailey into position and give him the ball, and once he gets it, it's just a couple touches and right up there into the goal, top-left corner, with the keeper unable to reach it. Real high quality stuff -- and a clear sign that San Antonio is prepared to win it all again this year.
It should be noted that right now that they sit behind Sacramento Republic for the first-place spot, because of how absolutely nutso their performance against the now-struggling Louisville City, who, due lacking about half of their current squad due to injury and USMNT (U-20) callups, no longer look anywhere near as confident as one might expect from the eastern conference champs from the previous year. None of these goals are anywhere near as spectacular as Bailey's, but goodness if there aren't a lot of them.
Those who follow USLC lore might remember that Sacramento were the USL dark horse team in the US Open Cup last year (which has just started back up -- USL teams begin entering the competition this week), having beaten multiple MLS teams to face what was an otherwise lackluster Orlando City in its final. They are also clearly looking prepared to win it all, just as much as San Antonio is ready to defend their title, though it's very clear that they owe their current success to a lackluster Louisville backline, giving away several goals from failures to clear rebounds and saves that stayed in play.
Check out the goal at 1:05 by Ciccerone for an example of incredible end-to-end play from Sacramento. Sure, it's not the most impactful play given the known issues with Louisville's defense between this and their previous game (against the otherwise meager-performing El Paso Locomotive) but, hey, it's fun to watch either way.