SD Loyal SC fall to Tacoma Defiance 2-1

The Tacoma Defiance come from behind to defeat the Loyal 2-1 and win the season series

The San Diego Loyal finally had their chance to host the Tacoma Defiance. The Loyal came up short in the first two away matches this season. SD went on to lose their third straight to Tacoma, but will play them one more time later in the season to avoid the season sweep.

Manager Landon Donovan issued what looked to be a 4-2-3-1 formation with Austin Guerrero in goal for the Loyal. Corey Hertzog started at striker and defender Oliver Larraz earned his first career start. Larraz made his debut in the loss to Real Monarchs SLC last weekend.

The Loyal struck first after a great heading pass from Larraz. Corey Hertzog found himself at the right place at the right time to take the early 1-0 lead.

Always a showman! @Hertzog_Corey just knows how to make things interesting. ✨#SDvTAC pic.twitter.com/pznGWeE3I2

— San Diego Loyal (@SanDiegoLoyal) August 15, 2021

Larraz turned a lot of heads in his second match with the team.

The rest of the half provided a total of six yellow cards with four of them issued to Tacoma. There wasn’t much tension between these two teams, but mistakes and mistimed tackles caused the head official to straighten things up.

In the 56th minute, midfielder Jack Blake fired a near miss just to the left of the diving keeper. That would have sent the fans at Torero stadium into a frenzy. The atmosphere in San Diego continues to be fascinating every single match.

Tacoma wouldn’t go out without a fight, though. They leveled the match in the 65th minute to silence the crowd at Torero.

Less than five minutes later, SD conceded another goal off of a rebound. Tacoma took advantage of the lack of effort on defense and the Defiance had their first lead of the match in the 71st minute. The Loyal went from leading by one, to losing by one all in a blink of an eye.

Tacoma wanted it more in the second half and it clearly showed. San Diego would control possession like they usually do, but couldn’t convert on their attempts or create any good ones for that matter.

The second half was an overall poor performance for Donovan’s squad. The momentum shifted after Tacoma’s first goal and they ran away with it at that point.

“We have to be perfect if we are going to get points,” Donovan said. “We are not scoring enough so it’s putting us under pressure when we fall asleep. I always tell my team you get what you deserve. If we get plays right, we will get points. We’re growing. I know it’s frustrating but we still have 14 games to go.”

Additional News 

• Defender Callum Montgomery and midfielder Collin Martin were unavailable for tonight’s selection due to injuries.
• Ian Mai came in as a substitute late in the match to make his professional debut. Mai is just 16 years old.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.