SD Loyal SC match preview against Tacoma Defiance
Credit: SD Loyal
The San Diego Loyal travel to Tacoma, Washington, to take on the Defiance, where the Loyal earned their first inaugural win last season in the 2-1 victory.
The third straight road match for the Loyal (0-2-0) will start at 7 p.m. and will be against a rival from the Pacific Division.
The Loyal lost their first two matches of the season against the Phoenix Rising (2-0-0) and RGV Toros (1-0-0).
The offense has yet to really make an appearance in the new season, but manager Landon Donovan saw improvement during the second match.
RGV nailed in a late goal to defeat the Loyal last Thursday night. The Loyal played their possessions well but couldn’t generate a flow or rhythm to score. The defenders played their game and improved drastically from their first match against the Rising.
It turned into an all-out battle, but the Toros connected first and sealed their first victory of the new season.
“We wanted to see a reaction from our team and how we competed.”
Landon Donovan was encouraged by the progress and performances he saw from the guys last night in RGV.#RGVvSD | https://t.co/AhZFr7WbDG pic.twitter.com/jlyj1yu2gV
— San Diego Loyal (@SanDiegoLoyal) May 7, 2021
Tacoma (0-0-1) tied in their season opener (1-1) last week when they faced Los Angeles Galaxy II. The Defiance scored a late penalty kick in stoppage time to even the score and escape with one point. The Loyal currently is in sixth place in the division with zero points and a (-4) goal-difference, while the Las Vegas Lights sit in last place with zero points and a (-5) goal difference.
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Right before the pandemic hit, the Loyal flew to Washington and defeated the Defiance 2-1 behind Francis Atuahene’s two goals. The season then came to a halt, but not without leaving with their first-ever win as a club. This matchup will be the second between the two clubs and the first of four on the 2021 season.
San Diego will travel to Louisville next week, which will be their fourth-straight away match to start the season. The first home match for SD will be May 29, when they host the Las Vegas Lights at 7 p.m.
Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris is also an athlete and is huge fan of San Diego sports. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and contributes regularly about the Padres.