El Paso Locomotive (2-5-1, 7 points, West-10) earned three points with a 3-1 win over Loudoun United FC at Segra Field on Saturday. A brace from ForwardLucho Solignacand a goal from Midfielder Diego Lunasecured the first road win of the season.
Saturday’s 90-minute action kicked off to a slow start with neither side making any real advancement towards goal for the first 20 minutes. The stalemate was broken in the 27th minute, after an unfortunate shot bounced off the arm of a Locomotive defender in the box, prompting the referee to point to the spot. Loudoun’s Sami Guediri converted the penalty giving Loudoun a first-half lead. Locomotive stepped up to find an equalizer, nearly earning it in the 43rd minute from Luna but the Loudoun ‘keeper came up big for the stop.
The Locos stepped out of the locker room in the second half with vigor, taking a run down to the attacking third. Locomotive passing put Loudoun on the back foot, keeping the hosts off the ball. The second-half dominance paid off with three unanswered goals beginning with a penalty kick conversion by Solignac in the 68th minute. Luna doubled up the lead with an incredible run within six yards of the goal before chipping it past Loudoun’s Joe Rice in the 82nd minute. Despite Loudoun’s best efforts with a late push, Solignac put the nail in the coffin for Loudoun’s loss with a stoppage-time goal into the far post.
UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive FC hosts FC Tulsa at Southwest University Park for Star Wars night on Wednesday, May 4. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Tickets are available online at eplocomotivefc.com/tickets or by calling 915-235-GOAL.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN
LDN: Sami Guediri, (Penalty Kick) 27th minute: After an unlucky bounce of the ball off the hand of Matt Bahner in the box, the referee pointed to the spot to award the penalty kick. Guediri stepped up and sent the ball left while sending Evan Newton the wrong way to get the first goal of the evening.
ELP: Lucho Solignac (Penalty Kick), 68th minute: With a quick run into the box, Lucho found himself one-on-one with the Loudoun keeper Joe Rice. Rice sweeps for the ball but catches Lucho’s legs, prompting the ref to point to the spot. Lucho stepped up and quickly buried the ball with power to the bottom right corner.
ELP: Diego Luna, 81st minute: Winning the ball in a duel at the top of the penalty area, Luna was quick to take his run deep within six yards of the goal. Catching Loudoun goalkeeper Joe Rice on a juke to the left, Luna opened up a shot to put Locomotive in the lead.
ELP Lucho Solignac (Dylan Mares), 95th minute: Starting with an incredible backheel pass from Ricardo Zacarias, Mares expertly waited for the Loudoun defenders to move out of position to open up Lucho. Mares took advantage by sending in a pass that put Lucho in behind who sent his shot to the far post and secure a 3-1 win.
NOTES:
– Midfielder Christiano Francois recorded his 10,000th minute in the USL Championship regular season, recording the milestone in the 15th minute of the game.
– Forward Lucho Solignac recorded his second and third goals of the season with his brace, moving his all-time Locomotive goal scoring count to 13. Midfielder Diego Luna’s goal is his second of the season and 11th in a Locomotive jersey.
– Midfielder Dylan Mares extended his club-leading assist record with his 94th minute assist to Lucho. Mares now has 13 assists for El Paso.
Match: El Paso Locomotive at Loudoun United FC
Date: April 30, 2022
Venue: Segra Field
Weather: 70F and partly cloudy
Scoring Summary 1 2 F
El Paso Locomotive 0 3 3
Loudoun United FC 1 0 1
LDN – Sami Guediri (PK), 27’
ELP – Lucho Solignac (PK), 68’
ELP – Diego Luna, 81’
ELP – Lucho Solignac (Dylan Mares), 90’+5
Lineups:
El Paso Locomotive FC (4-3-3): Evan Newton; Nick Hinds (Ricardo Zacarias, 60’), Andrew Fox, Matt Bahner (Yuma, 45’), Harry Brockbank (Chapa Herrera, 60’), Diego Luna, Eric Calvillo, Dylan Mares, Aaron Gomez (Richie Ryan, 82’), Christiano Francois (Eder Borelli, 60’), Lucho Solignac
Subs not used: Philipp Beigl, Shavon John-Brown
Loudoun United FC (3-4-2-1): Joe Rice; Grant Lillard (Isaac Espinal, 86’), Rio Hope-Gund, Jacob Greene, Gaoussou Samake, Michael Downs, Houssou Landry (Jeremy Garay, 45’), Sami Guediri, Zoumana Diarra (Abdoul Zanne, 61’), Azaad Liadi, Skage Lehland (Tyler Freeman, 62’)
Subs not used: Carson Vom Steeg, Jace Clark, Drew Hartman
Stats Summary: ELP | LDN
Shots: 14 | 15
Shots on Goal: 6 | 3
Saves: 2 | 3
Corner Kicks: 5 | 5
Fouls: 16 | 20
Offside: 1 | 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
ELP – Matt Bahner (Caution), 27’
LDN – Houssou Landry (Caution), 39’
ELP – Harry Brockbank (Caution), 40’
LDN – Nicky Downs (Caution), 49’
ELP – Chapa Herrera (Caution), 65’
LDN – Joe Rice (Caution), 67’
ELP – Diego Luna (Caution), 83’
LDN – Azaad Liadi (Ejection), 87’
ELP – Eder Borelli (Caution), 90’+1