In a match that sometimes resembled a wrestling battle royal, the California Victory defeated the Minnesota Thunder 1-0, just two days after Minnesota prevailed over the Victory by the same score in a USL-1 league match.
The Thunder wasted no time jumping on attack, forcing Victory goalkeeper Eric Reed to thwart two breakaway attempts in the first twenty minutes. The Thunder also struck the crossbar during this time, off a shot from Brian Farber.
The first half wasn’t all Thunder, however. California’s Jose Retiz forces GK Nic Platter to make a flying save to knock the ball over the crossbar.
The first of four red cards were issued just after the restart, when California’s Cameron Dunn was sent off for his second caution of the match. Minnesota would only keep the man advantage for twenty minutes, as Jeremiah Bass was sent off in the 79th minute for his second yellow card. The teams finished scoreless after 90 minutes, and moved onto extra time.
Just five minutes into the extra session, California got the eventual game-winning goal. Ricardo Sanchez put away a free kick to give the Victory a 1-0 lead, as was also ejected from the match for his goal celebration, in which he mimicked urinating towards some of the Thunder fans. Just after the start of the second extra time period, the sides were once again level, as Ansu Toure was shown a straight red card for a tussle with Cal’s Jose Retiz. All told, the two teams combined for 45 fouls, 12 cautions, and 4 red cards.
Scoring
(CAL) Ricardo Sanchez 105’