Monterey Bay FC rescued a point late on, drawing 1–1 with Phoenix Rising FC in USL Championship action on Saturday. Ryuga Nakamura equalized in the 88th minute after Daniel Flores had put the visitors ahead with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.

The first half produced no goals and little in the way of decisive action. Neither side could find a breakthrough, and the teams went into the break level at 0–0.

Fidel Barajas picked up a yellow card for Monterey Bay in the 55th minute as the second half began to generate more friction, though the game remained scoreless deep into the final half-hour.

Phoenix Rising broke the deadlock in the 79th minute. Flores finished off a chance created by Pape Boye to give the visitors what looked like a winning goal with time running out. Rising appeared set to take all three points back to Arizona.

Monterey Bay had other ideas. Nakamura struck in the 88th minute to level the score, sparking relief for the home side and denying Phoenix Rising a result they had controlled in the closing stages. It was the kind of late equalizer that changes the complexion of a match entirely — a sucker punch for a team that had done the hard work of scoring first on the road.

The draw leaves both sides sharing the spoils in a result that will likely frustrate Phoenix Rising far more than Monterey Bay, given how close they came to collecting all three points.