The Lights travel to California to face Monterey Bay FC for the last match of the regular season
Match: Las Vegas Lights FC (10-13-6, 11th in Western Conference) at Monterey Bay FC (5-18-6, 12th in Western Conference)
When: Saturday, October 24
Where: Cardinale Stadium, Seaside, CA
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. PT
How to Watch: SSSEN, ESPN+
The USL Championship regular season comes to an end for the Lights on Saturday night.
The team travels to beautiful Seaside, California to face Monterey Bay FC at Cardinale Stadium with the objective of ending the year on a high note.
The Lights come off an unfortunate 5-3 defeat at the hands of Lexington SC that eliminated the team from playoff contention. Carson Locker, Oalex Anderson, and Patrick Leal scored for Vegas, but it wasn’t enough to overpower a strong Lexington side that put five past the Lights’ defensive apparatus.
Monterey Bay lost their last match at home to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, who were able to clinch a berth in the playoffs courtesy of a lone Juan David Tejada goal.
Both teams arrive at this match with nothing to lose and a lot to gain as they evaluate their overall performance throughout the year and restructure accordingly for the upcoming USL Championship season.
A Sweet Memory…
The last time both sides squared off for USL Championship action was early in the season.
On March 28, the Lights earned their first three points of the season after a 1-0 victory over Monterey Bay FC at Cashman Field.
Johnny Rodriguez scored the only goal of the match via a penalty kick.
Now, both teams will end the season at Cardinale Stadium. Just like they did last year.
Keys to the Match
Here are the keys for the Lights to end 2026 with a victory on the road at Cardinale Stadium.
Patrick Leal: immediate impact
Patrick Leal has only played 37 minutes in his last two matches.
And yet, he has tallied three goal contributions for an average of a goal or assist every 12.3 minutes.
Sure, that’s not sustainable… Not even Messi can keep up with those numbers in the long run. But it does signal the massive impact that he has on the team whenever he’s subbed on.
A box-crashing midfielder who attacks centrally, Leal has become a threat coming off the bench. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him on the scoresheet at Seaside.
Oalex Anderson can’t stop scoring
Is there anything we can say about Oalex Anderson that hasn’t been said before?
Anderson is on a roll. The Vincentian striker has scored in six straight matches, taking his 2026 goal tally for club and country to an impressive 20.
There’s no doubt Anderson has been the most important player of the Lights offense in the second half of the season, and, given his current scoring rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if he ended the year doing what he does best: score bangers.
Defensive compactness
The past two matches have not been positive for the Lights from a defensive standpoint, with the team conceding an average of four goals per game.
Despite player rotations and positional changes, the team has shown significant weakness in its backline throughout the season, holding the third worst goals allowed numbers in the Western Conference.
Vegas’ defensive vulnerability has accentuated in the last two matches, and it’s something that must be addressed as the season comes to a close and decisions must be made.
If the team wants to end the season on a somewhat high note and snatch three points from Cardinale Stadium, the team’s defense must be disciplined and compact.
