The 2021 USL Championship season didn’t end quite the way El Paso Locomotive FC thought it was going to end. Heading into the playoffs, Locomotive was the crowd favorite to advance into Western Conference Semifinals. It was a 76th-minute stunner from Oakland Roots that shut the book on the El Paso 2021 season.
Saturday’s match is a spiritual rematch of the 2021 Western Conference Quarterfinal, giving El Paso Locomotive FC a shot at redemption. Tickets are available online at eplocomotivefc.com/tickets or by calling 915-235-GOAL. The match will also be broadcast live on ESPN+ and KFOX14.
For fans and a few of the players that have carried over from the 2021 season, there is a sense of an opportunity for justice this Saturday. For Head Coach John Hutchinson who is six games deep into this first year at the helm of the El Paso team, it’s another game for Locomotive to pin together everything we have seen from the team in the last two outings.
Two weeks ago, at Southwest University Park, Locomotive dominated a 5-0 victory against Monterey Bay. It was a commanding performance that showcased exactly what Hutchinson is looking to bring to the field week in and week out, with an onslaught of goals complimenting an ironclad defense to keep a clean sheet. The defensive work continued into the match against San Antonio FC away from home. Locomotive kept its Texas rival to only one goal but lacked the aggressive threat it had against Monterey Bay.
“It’s tough when teams set up in a low block and it’s hard to break down,” said Hutchinson on Tuesday after training. “For us, it’s continuing to do what we need to do to keep the players getting in there to score goals. I thought in the second half [against San Antonio] we stopped our hard running in behind, we stopped the ball movement we had done against Monterey. Even when [Monterey Bay] had 10-men we moved the ball really quickly. We had lots of forward runs and we had boys in areas that we want to get them in. I just felt like in the last 30 minutes [in San Antonio] that kind of stopped.”
Coming off its 1-0 loss, Locomotive turns its attention towards Oakland Roots back home. Much like El Paso, Oakland has struggled out of the gates in the 2022 USL Championship season. After a series of draws and losses to kick off the year, Roots found their first win last Saturday against Loudoun United FC. Coupled with the three draws leading into the win, Oakland sits three points above El Paso Locomotive on the Western Conference table.
“Oakland is a dangerous team as well,” commented Hutchinson. “They score a lot of late goals. They’re well-coached. They’ve got some good movements and some good players. It’s going to be a really good challenge for us to see if we can repeat our performance at home which I think we can. We’ve obviously got good players.”
It’s a lot of good players that for the first time since the start of the 2022 season were in full training. Whether it was due to illness, travel, injury, or visa, Locomotive has yet to have all 22 signed players train together at the same time. That changed on Monday as every player is now in El Paso and healthy, with Defender Matt Bahner and Midfielder Sebastian Velasquez coming off the injury list.
“The other week we had them all in the changing room, this time it was the first time we had them all on the training park together so you can see what that brings. The intensity, the competition for spots has risen. The intensity in the training session today was fantastic. The boys are looking great and come game day they will be ready to rock and roll in front of the fans,” said Hutchinson.
With the full team practically at full strength, the team is looking toward mentality. Despite the results, the locker room remains confident and positive that results will soon be turning in favor of El Paso, and that’s a mentality that the team will hold strong to.