With just 44 seconds to play,
Kristian Reci headed a tip pass from Kai
Terentieff and popped it into the net as Master's won a big game on the road in Costa Mesa over the Vanguard Lions 2-1 Saturday.
The win moves Master's up into sixth place in the
GSAC standings with two matches to play. Only the top six teams will move on to the conference tournament.
"It was an incredible team effort," said Head Coach
Jim Rickard. "I thought we did really well in the first half moving the ball. The second half was a little more difficult. (Vanguard) had some quality chances and Kian made some really nice saves. Overall, I thought we played really well."
A scoreless first half was changed 11:29 into the second half when Vanguard's Robert
Ronco scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Lions a 1-0 edge.
But just three minutes later
Silas Chavez headed a cross from
Aidan Rohde to knot the score at 1-1. It was Chavez's third goal of the season.
"When Vanguard scored, they had a lot of energy and momentum, and they were pressing us," Rickard said. "But a really beautiful threw ball to Aidan, who made a great cross to Silas who had a great header to score. That sucked the momentum and energy away from them and put it right on us."
That set up
Reci's heroics in the final minute of the match.
Chavez led the team with four shots, three of which were on goal. Both Theo
Kudlo and
Giorgio Martino added two shots each.
Kian Bensend finished with four saves as five of the Lions's 17 shots were on goal.
"Michael (Nachfoerg) is our unsung hero," Rickard said. "He did a great job defending against their top scorer.
"I'm super proud," Rickard continued. "I turned to Brett (Croft, assistant coach) with about 15 minutes left to play and said 'I'm really proud of them.' They have really been playing well as a good team unit. We had a shutout last game and only gave up one goal to one of the best teams in the conference. I'm super proud."
The final two matches of the season will be at home for the Mustangs. Menlo will be at Reese Field on Thursday for a 3 p.m. match, followed by senior day on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against the William
Jessup Warriors.
