Albion charged forward straight from the start and almost gave their fans an instant reward when Felipe Liborio rolled his shot just wide. RSJ settled in defensively thus preventing an early San Diego party. The home team continued their push forward, and the visitors pushed back hard in return as the players fought for individual battles. The result of one such challenge saw RSJ Captain David Sifuentes crash heads with Albion striker Jonathan Zurrita. Sifuentes stayed down with cuts to his head and bridge of the nose. Play continued only after a five-minute break to clean the blood off the artificial turf, and this was when RSJ created the best scoring chance of the half.
With Sifuentes still receiving medical attention, RSJ goalkeeper Jonathan Arellano caught the ball off a corner kick and punted it perfectly into the path of the sprinting David Galvin. The moves caught Albion short at the back however Juan Leal misfired into the chest of San Diego goalkeeper Jean Antoine. The first half ended scorelessly.
Albion continued to enjoy the bulk of ball control and offensive pressure and RSJ settled for a strong defensive organization led by Cesar Rodriguez, Nick Vargas, and the bandaged captain Sifuentes. The pace of the match never slowed as the game entered the final 10 minutes.
The result of one of San Jose’s sprints downfield ended with the ball bouncing up to the hand of Albion defender Kuba Waligorsky. The referee instantly pointed to the penalty spot. Unfortunately, for the visitors, Antoine guessed correctly to save Joe Kay’s spot kick much to the joy and perhaps relief of Albion nation. Then with just two minutes remaining San Diego got the goal to make their night complete when Felipe Liborio slotted in from 8 yards out.
Play resumed only after a massive celebration by the Albion players and fans at the bottom of the stands. RSJ nearly caught Albion out breath by creating a dangerous goalmouth scramble that only ended when Antoine dove on the ball before Simohamed Azizsbai could get to it. Soon after RSJ fell to 10 players when 16-year-old substitute Luis Leal was shown his second yellow card in 20 minutes of play. The final score was 1-0.
The big winners on the night where Albion not so much for the result of the game, but for the great start to their NPSL franchise.
Real San Jose begins their 10th NPSL season this Saturday when they visit CD Aguiluchos. This match also promises to be quite an event as pregame celebrations begin at 3:00 pm at Raimondi Park in Oakland. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10 in advance and $20 at the stadium.