TACOMA, Wash. (Tuesday, September 17, 2019) – Real Monarchs SLC (12-9-7, 43 points) earned a critical 4-1 road victory over Tacoma Defiance at Cheney Stadium on Tuesday night, the club’s second consecutive victory.
FW Kyle Coffee tallied his second goal in as many games while MF Maikel Chang scored his career best 10th and 11th goals of the season while MF Cristian Cálix tallied his first in a Monarchs uniform. MF Sam Brown made his first start for the club, playing 85 minutes in the victory.
Real Monarchs started the match strong in the opening minutes when MFs Jack Blake and Luis Palma each took chances that rebounded off the crossbar or ended just off frame. It would be Coffee that struck first in the 32nd minute as he found the back of an open net after cleaning up a deflected shot from FW Luis Arriaga. To close out the first half, Tacoma picked up a red card as defender Jesus Rubio committed two back-to-back fouls that resulted in an ejection, leaving the Monarchs with a man advantage for the remainder of the match.
The Monarchs kept the pressure going in the second half as DF Noah Powder served in a corner kick that saw Chang convert a poor clearance to sneak away a second Monarchs goal in the 55th minute. Tacoma was able to pull a goal back when Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez took one shot over GK David Ochoa in the 60th minute. Ochoa came up big to hold the Monarchs lead with a fingertip save in the 64th minute before Tacoma saw its second red card of the match from a poor tackle as the Monarchs went up two men. Chang earned his brace from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute before Calix lofted in a shot from distance to tally his first goal in a Monarchs jersey in the 89th minute to provide the Monarchs with the full three points.
UP NEXT: Real Monarchs SLC stays on the road, traveling to Texas to face Rio Grande Valley Toros. The contest is scheduled for Saturday, September 21 where kickoff from H-E-B Park is set for 6:30 p.m. MT.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN
SLC: Kyle Coffee, 32nd minute: In a strong build-up play, MF Maikel Chang cut a low pass into the center of the box that ended up at the feet of FW Luis Arriaga. Arriaga - from a dangerous close range - took a shot that ultimately got shut out by Defiance goalkeeper Bryan Meredith. Coffee was quick on the response to get in a shot that found the back of a wide-open net.
SLC: Maikel Chang, 55th minute: Real Monarchs earned a corner kick opportunity which Noah Powder served into the middle of the box. The Defiance goalkeeper was able to get a punch to the ball for a clearance, but Chang was able to get into the crowd and sneak away the second Monarchs goal of the night.
TAC: Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Nicholas Hinds), 60th minute:Hinds got in to intercept a Real Monarchs pass before crossing in the ball towards the middle of the box where Ocampo-Chavez took one touch to put the ball over GK David Ochoa and into the back of the net.
SLC: Maikel Chang (Penalty), 73rd minute: After being taken down within the penalty area through his attacking run, Chang stepped up to spot to take the opportunity. Chang smoothly sent the ball down the middle to convert for a brace.
SLC: Cristian Calix (Luis Arriaga), 89th minute: In the dying moments of the match, Calix made his field presence known as he latched onto a pass from Arriaga. Calix took his shot from distance that flew just under the crossbar and out of Bryan Meredith’s reach to put away the match with the fourth Monarchs goal of the night.
KEY SAVES AND DEFENSIVE STOPS
SLC: David Ochoa, 39th minute: Ochoa showed off his quick reflexes when Tacoma Defiance snuck in an opportunity from close range that looked to tuck away into the bottom corner. Ochoa fell to get a hand on the ball to deflect the shot out and keep the one goal lead.
NOTES:
- MF Sam Brown made his first start for the Real Monarchs, playing 85 minutes in the 4-1 victory.
- Six Real Academy – graduates and current players – featured for the Real Monarchs. GK David Ochoa and FW Luis Arriaga highlighted the Starting XI while DF Bobby Pierre, MF Alejandro Silva and FWs Damian German and Julian Vazquez began the match on the bench.
- FW Kyle Coffee tallied his second goal in as many games after putting way an opportunity off a deflected shot in the 32nd minute to open the scoring.
- MF Maikel Chang scored two goals to mark a career-best 11 goals in a single season, while MF Cristian Cálix tallied his first Monarchs goal late in the match.
Match: Real Monarchs SLC at Tacoma Defiance
Date: September 17, 2019
Venue: Cheney Park; Tacoma, Washington
Attendance: 2,016
Weather: 60 degrees with rain
Scoring Summary 1 2 F
Real Monarchs SLC 1 3 4
Tacoma Defiance 0 1 1
SLC – Kyle Coffee, 32’
SLC – Maikel Chang, 55’
TAC – Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Nicholas Hinds), 60’
SLC – Maikel Chang (Penalty), 73’
SLC – Cristian Calix (Luis Arriaga), 89’
Lineups:
Real Monarchs SLC (4-2-3-1): David Ochoa; Konrad Plewa, Kalen Ryden, Noah Powder, James Moberg; Sam Brown (Cristian Calix, 85’), Luis Palma (Julian Vazquez, 82’), Jack Blake, Maikel Chang, Luis Arriaga; Kyle Coffee (Damian German, 89’)
Subs not used: Evan Finney, Kurowskybob Pierre, Alejandro Silva, Lionel Etoundi
Tacoma Defiance (4-2-3-1): Bryan Meredith; Jesus Rubio, Aleks Berkolds, Sota Kitahara, Nicholas Hinds; Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez, Daniel Robles (Joshua Atencio, 46’), Alex Roldan (Jesse Daley, 61’), Danny Leyva, Shandon Hopeau; Ethan Dobbelaere (Justin Dhillon, 70’)
Subs not used: Ray Serrano, Alex Vellanueva, Handwalla Bwana, Trey Muse
Stats Summary: SLC/TAC
Shots: 24 / 12
Shots on Goal: 11 / 3
Saves: 2 / 6
Corner Kicks: 6 / 3
Fouls: 12 / 6
Offside: 1 / 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
TAC – Danny Leyva (Caution), 4’
TAC – Alfonso Ocampo-Chaves (Caution), 4’
TAC – Jesus Rubio (Caution), 44’
TAC – Jesus Rubio (Second Caution; Ejection), 44’
SLC – Sam Brown (Caution), 58’
SLC – Konrad Plewa (Caution) 63’
TAC – Danny Leyva (Second Caution; Ejection) 64’
SLC – Jack Blake (Caution), 82’
TAC – Aleks Berkolds (Caution) 92’
SLC – Noah Powder (Caution) 92’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Mark Allatin
Assistant Referees: Baboucarr Jallow, Christian Cler
4th Official: Christopher Turner
