Redlands FC came into Wednesday night’s game vs the Southern California Seahorses looking to get back to their winning ways. Redlands was coming off of their first loss in USL2 play against first place Ventura County. The team found itself four points back of the top of the table, so a win vs the Seahorses would be key in keeping their hopes of winning the division in tact.
Redlands started off the game strong as they have throughout the season, dominating possession and forcing the Seahorses into uncomfortable situations. The home side would see its first grade A scoring chance early on when Ethan Kovach breezed by multiple defenders before being tripped up in the box, leading to a penalty. Kovach took the penalty, looking to finish off his impressive run, but the shot was saved by the outstretched legs of Seahorse goalkeeper Michael Diaz, and the game stayed at 0-0. However, in the 24th minute, Kovach would get his redemption. After a cross sent in slowly rolled past Noah Lopez, Kovach came running in and smashed a shot by Diaz to put Redlands FC up 1-0. The rest of the first half saw Redlands dominate the majority of possession with no real dangerous scoring chances coming from either side, and the goal by Kovach was the difference heading into halftime.
The second half played much like the first up until around the 70th minute, when the Seahorses began to push. The visiting side was finally able to possess the ball for an extended period of time, but Redlands back four stood strong and continued to clear and make sure the Seahorses could not draw level. Finally, after multiple desperation pushes from the visitors in stoppage time, Kovach found halftime substitute Luka Lukic making a run on a counter attack. Lukic sprinted towards goal where he found just himself versus the keeper and scored. The goal was the dagger and solidified a Redlands FC win. The final whistle blew shortly after, and the home town team had earned a much deserved 3 points. Cory Lindfelt was named Man of the Match thanks to his impressive play on defense that contributed to the clean sheet.
The win puts Redlands at 14 points on the season, just one behind the aforementioned first place Ventura County Fusion. Redlands will have an opportunity to continue their race for first place on Saturday when they take on last place Capo FC at 7 PM in Dodge Stadium.