El Paso Locomotive earned a point on a 1-1 draw with Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Southwest University Park on Saturday. Defender Macca King opened his 2021 goal-scoring account with the lone Locomotive goal scored in the night.
“It’s what we expected, to be honest,” said Head Coach Mark Lowry, post-game. “We kind of scripted it like that. We should have won the game. We should have been 2-0 up at halftime. We had two or three chances outside of the goal which I expect the guys to finish. If it was two-nil at halftime, we win the game and that was how we planed it. We wanted to be a little more cautious in the first half because we changed the lineup because we have some tired guys out there.”
Locomotive once again kicked off the night strong, rolling over the Switchbacks squad to test the goal early. After earning a corner kick in the 12th minute, Midfielder Dylan Mares served in a beautiful cross to find King unmarked at the center. King took one touch to find the back of the net and provide Locomotive with an early lead. Switchbacks began chasing the game with high pressure, nearly finding an equalizer early but sent the ball wide from close range.
Fresh legs in the second half from Locomotive put the attacking edge back into the El Paso, however, shots from Forward Aaron Gomez and Mares would go wide of the net or barely saved by the Switchbacks ‘keeper. At the 73rd minute, after a soft tackle by Defender Yuma, the referee pointed to the spot, prompting Switchback’s Hadji Barry to convert the penalty and find the equalizer that ended the match 1-1.
UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive gets a small break from their string of games, not playing again until next weekend with the Locos travel to Herriman, Utah to play Real Monarchs at Zions Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for Friday, June 18 at 8:00 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN
ELP: Macca King (Dylan Mares), 12th minute: Another early goal for El Paso Locomotive off the corner set-piece. Served in beautifully by Mares, King was left unmarked to easily get a foot on it and into the back of the net from about 6-yards out.
COS: Hadji Barry (Penalty Kick), 73rd minute: After a Yuma brought down a Switchbacks forward with the penalty with a soft tackle, the referee pointed to the spot. Barry stepped up to take the kick, sending it into the roof of the net for the equalizer.
NOTES:
– Playing its third game in 10 days, the Locomotive lineup saw six changes from the game that saw a 2-0 win over Indy Eleven, including the absence of Defender Mechack Jerome, who is currently with the Haiti Men’s National Team
– Macca King scores his first goal of the 2021 USL Championship season, marking the 4th straight goal that King has played a large part in making for El Paso.
– Locomotive remains unbeaten after six games to start the 2021 USL Championship season while extending their home undefeated streak to 13 games since the 4-2 win against Switchbacks last August.
Match: El Paso Locomotive vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Date: June 12, 2021
Venue: Southwest University Park; El Paso, Texas
Weather: 97F; Overcast and windy
Scoring Summary 1 2 F
El Paso Locomotive FC 1 0 1
Switchbacks FC 0 1 1
ELP – Macca King (Dylan Mares), 12’
COS – Hadji Barry (PK), 73’
Lineups:
El Paso Locomotive FC (4-4-2): Logan Ketterer; Eder Borelli, Matt Bahner, Yuma, Macca King (Bryam Rebellon, 45’), Nick Ross, Chapa Herrera (Richie Ryan, 61’), Jose Aguinaga (Diego Luna, 68’), Dylan Mares, Leandro Carrijo (Lucho Solignac, 61’), Aaron Gomez (Aidan Apodaca, 83’)
Subs not used: Ben Beaury, Niall Logue
Indy Eleven (3-4-3): Sean Melvin, Matthew Mahoney, Jordan Burt (Tristan Hodge, 71’), Sebastian Anderson, Jimmy Ockford, Zachary Zandi, Steven Echeverria (Andre Lewis, 70’), Deshane Beckford (Dantouma Toure, 71’), Michee Ngalina, Beverly Makangila, Hadji Barry
Subs not used: Rony Argueta, Lamar Batista, Phillip Mayaka, Abraham Rodriguez
Stats Summary: ELP | COS
Shots:15 | 9
Shots on Goal: 5 | 4
Saves: 3 | 4
Corner Kicks: 3 | 3
Fouls: 12 | 9
Offside: 1 | 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
ELP – Nick Ross (Caution), 33’
COS – Steven Echeverria (Caution), 39’
ELP – Chapa Herrera (Caution), 58’
ELP – Eder Borelli (Caution), 72’
ELP – Richie Ryan (Caution), 84’
COS – Beverly Makangila (Caution), 85’