San Diego, Cali. – Memphis 901 FC earned their second consecutive road victory with a 1-0 win over San Diego Loyal SC at Torero Stadium on Saturday night.
Rodrigo Da Costa scored the club’s 40th goal of the season while Drew Romig turned in his best performance of the season with four saves, including a 6th minute diving penalty kick stop.
Memphis moved up to No. 4 in the Eastern Conference standings with the three-point result and a 10-6-7 record on the season.
Memphis grabbed the game’s only score in the 23rd minute as Da Costa scored his ninth goal of the season. Aaron Molloy played the ball across the field to Graham Smith, who put a shot on goal forcing a save from the San Diego goalkeeper. The rebound fell to the feet of the Brazilian attacker for the easy one-touch finish with the left foot.
The Memphis defense held firm despite the Beale Street Boys holding only 35% of the possession throughout the match.
The shutout marks Romig’s fourth clean sheet of the season against a high-scoring San Diego squad that ranked third in the league in goals per match coming into the contest, one spot below Memphis.
Memphis 901 FC will enjoy a bye week before returning to AutoZone Park to host Indy Eleven on Wednesday, August 23 at 7 p.m. CT.
Quotes
Head Coach Stephen Glass
On the team’s performance:
“That’s three games unbeaten on a really tough stretch of games, which is a huge positive. We knew it was going to be tough tonight with a team that loves to have the ball. I think we defended the box well. I think the boys deserved everything they got. I’m delighted for them after a really tough spell of games.”
On the standout performance from Goalkeeper Drew Romig:
“I told him at halftime I was already delighted with him. It was a great save and anytime a goalkeeper makes a penalty save you’re hoping to go the whole game without one in so they get the full reward. I’m delighted for Drew. he was brilliant coming through on a few crosses and punching on them. The whole back four defended really well. It’s Aiden’s first game and they just looked like a strong team.”
On Rodrigo Da Costa:
“Rodrigo continues to give us what we knew he would when we got him. I think it was a great finish tonight against a good keeper. He’s in the right position to smash it in and it was not an easy finish. We’re happy he got to tuck it away. We’ve not been disappointed since he got here.”
On the mindset in the final stages of the regular season:
The boys will get a few days where we can rest so we can attack the back part of the season. Thats the mindset. We’re happy with the three games unbeaten, but we know as soon as we come back we need to step on it. We’re happy to get the win and we want to do it again when we get back in front of the home fans.
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Contact
Joshua Clayton – Communications and Public Relations Coordinator – jclayton@memphis901fc.com
