Real Monarchs roll over Reno 1868 in 5-3 victory

The Monarchs started came out of the gate with the same 10 field players as their first two games and spent the bulk of the first half in the Reno side of the field. Sebastian Velasquez looked sharp as he provided an engine for the offense and factored in the first three Monarch goals.

Seba laid out a perfect through ball to Hoffman who laid it off for Minter who dribbled it in for the first goal in the 14’ minute.

In the 26’ minute Nick Besler intercepted a poor clearance at midfield and immediately redirected it to Velazquez who prompted launched a beatiful shot for the second goa

The third goal in 34’ minute followed a strong shot from Seba which was knocked out by Reno goalkeeper Matt Bersano to an oncoming Hoffman who punched it in.

Mackensie Pridham got one back for Reno in the 39’ as he got in behind the Monarchs for a clear header off a cross from Antoine Hoppenot.

The Monarchs then scored a record fourth goal off a corner kick by Charlie Adams which found the head off an totally unmarked Kyle Curinga in the 43’.

The Monarchs made two substitutions at half bringing in Reagan Dunk and Jose Hernandez done from parent RSL and moving Seba out to the right wing. Reno made no substitutions but did move the line of defense forward and brought up a second forward in an effort to get back into the game. The match also became much more physical with numerous hard tackles and several pauses for players to receive treatment which slow the offensive flow for both sides.

Reno coach Ian Russell brought in his two Jamaican forwards Dane Kelly and Brian Brown in the 63’ and 71’ which swung the offensive momentum strongly toward Reno and Kelly scored in the 84’ and 87’ to record his fiftieth career goal in USL and pull the game back to within a single goal.

Coach Briggs responded by bringing in Daniel Haber for Hoffman and directing him to step up the offensive pressure. However, it was a Jose Hernandez whose leg provided a backboard for a ball that trickled into the net in stoppage time to record his first professional goal and put the victory on ice.

Even though the Monarchs managed to put five on the board, they will surely be mourning the many other chances that they failed to connect on in the dominant first half and the failure to maintain the momentum in the second. Charlie Adams perhaps summed it up when he said, commented, “I think we’re a young team. We do have some experience but we’re still a pretty young team. Maybe a bit of inexperience. Maybe taking a breather when you need to run. Putting the ball in the corner when their momentum is probably against you. Winning a foul. But, that will come. It’s great that we have these situations early on in the season so we can learn from them. As I said, we’re a pretty young team so we’re going to learn from it in the future.”

The Monarchs now have ten days before their next game which is on the road in Colorado Springs against the Switchbacks. It will provide some time to recharge and extend the focus. However, Coach Mark Briggs is well aware of how important it is to maintain the momentum of the Monarchs fast start. “It’s just a case of me and my staff making sure we don’t get carried away. Its 3 games into the season, ok we won three games but there’s still another 27 games maybe. We haven’t achieved anything yet so we have to keep our feet on the ground, keep our minds focus, and we have keep working towards the end goal.”

Scoring

14’, 1-0 – SLC – Chase Minter (Chandler Hoffman)

26’, 2-0 – SLC – Sebastian Velasquez (Nick Besler)

34’, 3-0 – SLC – Chandler Hoffman

39’, 3-1 – RNO – Mackenzie Pridham (Antoine Hoppenot)

43’, 4-1 – SLC – Kyle Curinga (Charlie Adams)

84’, 4-2 – RNO – Dane Kelly (Matheus Silva)

87’, 4-3 – RNO – Dane Kelly

90+2’, 5-3 – SLC – Jose Hernandez (Sebastian Velasquez)

Monarchs: (4-2-3-1) Fernandez; Curinga (Dunk 45’), Moberg, Orozco, Lachowecki; Adams , Besler (c); Brody, Velasquez, Minter (Hernandez 45’); Hoffman (Haber 81’)

Reno: (4-2-3-1) Besano; Colvey, Griffiths (Brown 71’), Silva, Janjigian; von Niederhausern (Wehan 63’; LaGrassa; Hoppenot, Burgos, Yueill; Pridham (Kelly 63’)

Three Highlights for the Monarchs:

1. The Monarchs scored a record four goals in only the first half and then extended the total with a fifth in the dying moments of the match.
2. The Monarchs had five goals from five different players which should to boost overall confidence.
3. The Monarchs came right out of the gates and took advantage of Reno’s change in alignment forcing Reno to change shape to met the pace of play.

MEDIA

Minter gets the first goal of the match

Curinga with his first goal and the record setting fourth

Nice to have several viewpoints on the announcing team

Match highlights on RSL.com

Match report on RSL.com

Match report on USLSoccer.com