Down a man, down at the half and against all odds, Reno 1868 FC found a way to pull off yet another dramatic comeback to capture a 2-1 road win over Seattle Sounders 2 Sunday afternoon.
Reno’s fourth-straight win extended the club’s 15-match unbeaten streak (club record) and getting a firm grasp of third place in the USL’s Western Conference.
Saturday’s result nearly never happened after Reno (9-3-7, 34 points) trailed at the half following a goal by Seattle’s David Estrada in the 19th minute. Reno’s day appeared to get worse in the 31st minute when midfielder Lindo Mfeka was sent off after his second yellow card, putting Reno down to 10 men for the rest of the match.
Reno held firm headed into halftime, regrouping for arguably the best second half of soccer the club has played all season.
After nearly recording a goal in the first half, leading scorer Brian Brown found the breakaway Reno was looking for the entire match.
Brown had one man to beat but was brought down in the box in the 59th minute., allowing Seth Casiple to burry a penalty kick to even up the score at 1-1.
But Reno wasn’t satisfied with a draw as the club kept finding chance after chance to put the pressure back on Seattle. And those attempts finally paid off as a streaking Duke Lacroix placed a beautiful cross in the box in the 70th minute for Brian Brown who tapped in his eighth goal this season.
Reno sat back the remainder of the match, playing lockdown defense and walking away with three points in the fourth-straight match.
Reno now heads to Southern California to take on LA Galaxy II for the first time this season. Kickoff for that match Wednesday is slated for 7:30 p.m.
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