SEASIDE — Perhaps a change of venue will reignite Monterey Bay FC.
On Saturday, Union, who had failed to score for the second straight game, lost 1-0 to Indy Eleven at the Cardinale Stadium, ending their unbeaten run at home.
The Union, suffering its first losing streak of the season, is just one game out of the United Soccer League Championship and returns Tuesday to take on rival Sacramento Republic in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 at 7:30 p.m. Visit.
Monterey Bay FC and Republic both play in the Western Conference, with the reigning conference champions undefeated to date.
Union opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Irvine Zeta FC, handing Sacramento their first home loss last season.
After briefly holding first place in the Western Conference with three straight wins, the Union has dropped its last two games, falling to fourth place at 4-3-2 in USL Championship play and 5-3-2 overall. .
Union entered the game unbeaten in two games against Indy Eleven, including scoring a team-record five goals in a single game, and had won the previous two games 7-1.
The Indy Eleven went scoreless for 78 minutes before Elliott Collier fired a shot into the top right corner and into the net in front of a crowd of 4,503, giving the Indianapolis-based franchise its third straight win.
Monterey Bay FC enters this spring undefeated against five Eastern Conference opponents.
This setback left them five points behind Sacramento in the Western Conference, but they will be just two points behind second place when they return to USL action next Saturday, hosting Memphis 901 FC at 7 p.m.
Monterey Bay FC and Memphis were no strangers to each other as they played on the road on April 20th, with the Union winning 2-1 with goals from Alex Lara and Tristan Traeger.
