Master's coach Jim Rickard felt there were moments in Saturday's 4-0 loss to Ottawa University Arizona when the Mustangs might have climbed back into the match. Namely, when the deficit was only two.
"Then they had two amazing free kicks that slammed the door on us," Rickard said.
Fortunately, the loss did not slam the door on the Mustangs' playoff hopes. After Vanguard beat William Jessup 70 miles to the south of TMU, the Mustangs secured the sixth and final spot in the Golden State Athletic Conference playoffs. Master's, which has not missed its conference tournament since 2010, will play at Vanguard next Saturday at 12 p.m.
The Mustangs left Reese Field with mixed feelings Saturday after the Spirit, the GSAC's highest scoring team, scored twice in the game's first 11 minutes and never relented on the way to snapping TMU's brief two-match winning streak.
"We definitely wanted a good result to be able to have a home game for the playoffs," said senior Luis Garcia Sosa. "We have to quickly leave this in the past and learn from it because the next game is win or go home."
As it turned out, the Mustangs (8-7-2, 3-4-1 GSAC) would have had a home game next week if they had beaten the Spirit (11-5-1, 3-4-1). Menlo beat Hope International, giving Master's an opportunity to climb over Hope into fourth place. Instead, Cristian Gennaro pounded a free kick into the upper left corner of the goal in the 60th minute to make it 3-0, Ottawa. He wasn't finished.
Four minutes later, Gennaro smoked a free kick off the right post. The rebound caromed to Victor de la O, who scored off the rebound. There would be no comeback, not on this day. But there would be a tomorrow.
"Glad to be in the playoffs," said Rickard. "We're ready to work hard this week to prepare for Vanguard."
The Mustangs lost 1-0 to Vanguard in the teams' only meeting this season. The October game remained scoreless until the 86th minute when Andrew Robles blasted a shot into the right side of the net.
Rickard feels Master's is better prepared to face the No. 3-seeded Lions this time.
"We have a more clear view of their players and team shape and attacking style," Rickard said. "They like to play more direct and they hit a very accurate long ball. They have the ability to possess as well, but like to be more direct."
