At the University of San Francisco, the Bakersfield Brigade defeated the San Francisco Bay Seals 1-0 to top off their 3-game stretch, over the weekend.

 

The Brigade had only one goal over this Father’s Day weekend and that was to come away with 6 earned points in PDL play, and that’s exactly what they did. On Friday (June 16) the Brigade traveled to Modesto to play the winless California Gold. “Heading up to play the gold, or any other winless team for that matter, is scary because that team is very hungry for their first win and nobody wants to be the team to give it to them,” stated Brigade General Manager Joe Jimenez. The game against the Gold on Friday was indeed scary for the Brigade, as neither team had yet to score until Brigade Midfielder Leon Sharf found the back of the net in the 73rd minute of play. The Brigade followed up with two more goals, one by Defender Marcus Griffen and the other by Midfielder Devin Deldo to wrap up the game with a 3-0 win. “Although it took us some time to score tonight, the team played well and executed when it counted,” stated Brigade Head Coach Jay Gore. It’s going to be a long weekend for us, but the guys are both mentally and physically prepared to get it done,” added Gore.

 

The Brigade hosted the US Men’s National U17 90’s Team on Saturday and loss narrowly 2-1. In an exhibition friendly match, the Brigade reserves held their own and nearly tied it up in the final remaining minutes of the game. “We wanted to give the youth of Bakersfield an opportunity to get them an up-close look at soccer at the National level,” stated Brigade owner Jeff Thorn. “This is a great opportunity but it is still a friendly match-up, and we have to keep the PDL standings in mind,” added Thorn

 

The Brigade team arrived in San Francisco about 3am on Sunday morning and got as much rest as they could before their 2pm match against the Seals. The game was scoreless until about the 75th minute of play when Brigade Midfielder Leon Sharf split two Seal Midfielders and fed Moi Gomez the ball around 40 yards out from the Seals goal. Gomez immediately took the shot and caught the Seals Goalkeeper off guard, as it appeared that the ball was going wide but hit the back of the net uncontested. The Seals were unable to find an equalizer and were handed only their 3rd loss of the season by the Brigade. “Tremendous effort today by the whole team, our objective was to gather 6 points over the weekend and we met that goal,” stated Brigade Head Coach Jay Gore. 

 

The win over the Seals takes the Brigade to 5-4 (15pts) while the Seals fall to 6-3-1 (19pts). The So. Cal. Seahorses are currently at the top of the Division standings at 8-3 (24pts), with two of their three loses coming by way of the Brigade. The Brigade’s next game is scheduled for Saturday June 24th at Bakersfield Christian High School, as they will host the San Fernando Valley Quakes 4-3-1 (13pts) who are coming off a 2-0 loss against the Seahorses. Game time for Saturday’s game is 7:30, with a pregame beginning at 5:30.

 

The Brigade is a PDL soccer team, playing within the United Soccer Leagues’ PDL Southwestern Conference, which is made up of nine teams throughout California. For more information and to purchase season tickets visit www.bakersfieldbrigade.com or call 410-KICK.