Monarchs lose fourth straight match 2-1 despite goal by Kyle Coffee

Coming off a extended home stand during which the Monarchs lost all three matches, Head Coach Jamison Olvae elected to remain with a familiar squad of starters with only a single new face. Jimmy Slayton continued in goal with Andrew Brody, Taylor Peay and James Moberg play a fairly stead three man back line with Noah Powder attempting to go box to box on the left. Sam Brown featured as a holding defense back with Bode Davis, Jack Blake and new starter Dayonn Harris as attacking midfielders. Kyle Coffee and Ryan Sierakowski played on top as the main attacking force with frequent assistance from Powder.

For the first fifteen minutes, the Monarchs showed little or no shape and control with the Locomotive pushing forward at well and staying extremely high throughout. Then as the half moved into the middle third the Monarchs begin to show some signs of life and Dayonn Harris Kyle Coffee put the ball into the net following a corner kick only to see it see called back due to an offside call. The final third of the first half saw the Locomotive once again totally domination possession and generate a number of chances that failed at the last minute due to poor execution. Late in stoppage time it appeared that Dayonn Harris may have been taken down in the box, but the official signalled to play on.

The Monarchs walked off at the half feeling that they had created chances, but the Locomotive probably had the greater frustration as their 66. 6% possession was offset by a paltry 28.6% shooting average. In addition, El Paso had well over double the number of passes created by the Monarchs and double the accuracy in their opponent’s half with an outstanding 70.3% completion rate.

The second half started off much as it finished with El Paso continually creating chances until a uncontested Brent Kallman nodded in a corner kick into the goal the 54th minute giving the home side a 1-0 lead. Locomotive continue to totally dominate the match until the 72nd minute when Julian Vazquez replaced Bode Davis and Luis Arriaga replaced Jack Blake during the second half hydration break.

Despite continual offensive pressure by El Paso, fresh legs served to allow Kyle Coffee to find a second chance as he sent a nice strike into goal, for the second time, which evened the score at 1-1 in the 81st minute. However, the Locomotive pressure continued to build and payed off in the 87th minute as Bryam Rebellón drove into the box and scored despite running into the elbow of Noah Powder.

The Monarchs return home to take on Tacoma Defiance next Friday, September 4th, at Zions Bank Stadium.