Monterey Bay FC lost 1-0 at the Charleston Battery on Sunday, Sept. 20, stretching the club's road winless streak to a franchise-record 26 matches.

Substitute Camilo Sánchez scored the only goal in the 78th minute off a Jeremy Kelly corner kick at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The result clinched a playoff berth for Charleston (13-8-4, 43 points), the second team in the 2026 USL Championship to secure one.

Monterey Bay FC, the Peninsula's only professional sports team, has not won away from Cardinale Stadium in Seaside since March 2025. The club carried an 0-9-3 road record into September, the Monterey Herald reported, and the losses have kept piling up.

The Union did not go quietly in Charleston. Monterey Bay FC put three shots on target but could not beat Charleston goalkeeper Daniel Kuzemka, who recorded a clean sheet. Forward Omari Glasgow and midfielder Sebastian Lletget tested Kuzemka in the second half. Lletget also forced a save on a first-half free kick, the Post and Courier reported.

Charleston head coach Ben Pirmann credited the visitors after the match. "I got to give Monterey Bay credit. They coached a great game. They played a great game. They went for it. They were aggressive," Pirmann said.

The praise offered little consolation. As of the Herald's Sept. 6 report, Monterey Bay FC (4-14-6) sat in last place in the Western Conference, 12 points out of a playoff spot with six matches remaining. The Charleston loss dropped the club further behind.

Head coach Alex Covelo, who replaced Jordan Stewart at the end of April after the team went winless through its first seven games, has been unable to reverse the road slide. In a late-July interview with Monterey County NOW, Covelo acknowledged the grind. "They show a lot of desire … There are bumps, but we have to keep going," he said of his players.

The bumps have not stopped. Monterey Bay FC has missed the postseason in each of its first four years and is on track to miss it a fifth straight time. The club's point total has decreased in each of its five seasons, the Herald reported in its Aug. 29 coverage.

Approximately five regular-season matches remain for Monterey Bay FC, which plays its home games at Cardinale Stadium in Seaside.