Albion San Diego will look to rebound from its first loss in almost three months as it takes on the Michigan Stars on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium.

Albion is coming off a 2-1 defeat to Chattanooga FC on Wednesday at Cal State San Marcos which snapped its eight-game undefeated streak in league play dropping them to fourth place in the NISA standings.

Albion took the lead in the 14th minute after a beautiful cross from defender Harold Hanson found forward Walter Varela who took a shot from six yards out that beat goalkeeper Kevin Gonzalez. The game was chippy throughout with several yellow cards being issued and the referee having to blow the whistle on many hard fouls.

Chattanooga FC tied the match in the 47th minute when defender Daniel Vicente fouled forward Markus Naglestad who proceeded to score his league-leading 15th goal of the season on the ensuing penalty kick despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Ben Roach. Chattanooga got what turned out to be the winning goal in the 58th minute when forward Alex McGrath found himself wide open in front of goal and scored on a short-range header.

To make matters more difficult for Albion, the club went a player down late in the game when defender Khadim Seye was issued a second yellow card. Despite the loss, the team, led by head coach Ziggy Korytoski, is still in postseason position and would host a first-round playoff match if the season ended today.

As for the next opponent, the Michigan Stars, are coming off a 1-0 victory against LA Force, which allowed them to move into third place in the standings. The one through six seeds make the playoffs with the top two getting a bye and advancing straight to the semifinals. Cal United Strikers currently hold the first position followed by Chattanooga FC with Albion San Diego still has one more game Chattanooga FC and two more with Cal United Strikers.

Kickoff for the match on Saturday versus Michigan Stars at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium is set for 6 p.m.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker