NISA side Irvine Zeta FC reaped the benefits of a 16th minute red card to Ventura County FC’s Nicolas Schelotto and held the MLS NEXT Pro outfit to one shot on goal in a 3-0 win at Dignity Health Sports Park Track & Field Stadium on Wednesday.
The Orange County side’s dominant performance earned them their second straight shutout to begin its professional era, paired with a spot in Thursday’s 10 a.m. PST draw of Round 3 in the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
“Games like these,” Zeta goalkeeper MItchell North said. “Getting a shutout with three goals on the road against a number of guys who are on MLS contracts, it should give the young guys so much confidence.”
The Zeta triton of Rafael Espinoza, George Almeida, and Marcel Salceda found themselves on the scoresheet to each earn their first professional goal.
Ventura County began the game with a counter-attacking approach which resulted in the hosts earning the game’s first scoring opportunity.
The hosts absorbed pressure before goalkeeper Brady Scott pounced on a tame shot and punted the ball to center forward Aaron Bibout who bundled his way into the box after a slip from Zeta center back Alex Culwell in midfield.
The forward opened to his left side for a window of space that allowed him to send a shot that ripped wide and above the goal.
Three minutes later, VCFC was left with 10 players when Schelotto’s studs were stamped on Zeta midfielder Shinya Kadono’s leg from a dangerously needless tackle.
Zeta head coach Tyler Silva said his team put themselves “in a really good position,” before the red card but definitely grew in the game following Schelotto’s ejection.
“We conceded a couple chances on the counter,” Silva said about his side’s bright start to the game before the red card. “But overall I think if we weren’t the better team, we definitely weren’t worse.”
Things got better for the visitors right before the half when midfielder Oscar Cervantes’ cross skipped past numerous defenders and found Espinoza at the back post.
The winger made no mistake in roofing his shot inside the top of the net, putting the visitors in front after 45 minutes.
Just 16 minutes after the restart, Zeta doubled its lead.
This time Almeida stepped up with a vicious shot to the top of the goal of his own that pinged off the crossbar and beat Scott from atop the 18-yard box.
The former Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros standout was back in similar territory on the campus of CSUDH and celebrated with a scintillating finish.
VCFC’s first shot on goal came from winger Gino Vivi after 82 minutes of play — a straight-forward attempt that North safely pushed away for a corner kick.
That was as close as the hosts would get to North’s goal as Zeta tripled its initial lead with just two minutes left in regulation through a quick, counter-attacking phase.
Midfield substitutes Edgardo Artero and Salceda combined for a one-two punch that sealed Irvine’s ticket into the third round.
“We managed the game really really well,” Silva said about his team’s performance. “With the ball, without the ball.
“And we were able to find our moments to go and put the second and the third, and then control the game with the ball and just kill it out.”