EL PASO, Texas – Despite a strong second half performance, El Paso Locomotive FC (0-2-0, 0 points, West-10) fell 1-2 to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Wednesday night at Southwest University Park.
“I give our players a lot of credit for how they performed in the second half,” Head Coach and Technical Director Brian Clarhaut said about the team’s improvement after the first 45 minutes of play. “We created enough to win the game. We just need to be more mature in our play. Some of the chances they got were from our mistakes that we weren’t capitalizing. We cannot give gifts away. We need to be a hard team to beat, and we are when we defend properly.”
An early Switchbacks goal in the second minute meant that Locomotive were going to have to fight to get a positive result. After a difficult first half, Locomotive would come out in the second half ready to battle.
Just three minutes into the second half, forward Ricardo Zacarias found at his feet a deflected ball from Colorado’s defense. Zacarias displayed his attacking composure, calmly controlling the ball outside the 18-yard box to shoot it far into the bottom right corner past the Switchbacks goalkeeper. The ball would ricochet off the post and into the net, providing El Paso not only the equalizer, but also its first goal of 2023.
Midfielder Denys Kostyshyn lit up the field yet again, consistently creating scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates whilst big performances from defenders Yuma and Nick Hinds kept out dangerous chances from the Switchbacks.
Unfortunately, in what turned out to be one of the final plays of the match, the Switchbacks would capitalize on a turnover in stoppage time to give them the three points.
TEAM NOTES
- Ricardo Zacarias opened Locomotive’s scoring account for 2023 with his second-half equalizer.
- Luis “Lucho” Solignac made his return to the field after missing Locomotive’s season opener, coming on for Aaron Gomez in the final 20 minutes.
SCORING SUMMARY
- COS 1 – Jairo Henriquez (Maalique Foster) 2’
- ELP 1 – Ricardo Zacarias 48’
- COS 2 – Duke Lacroix (Deshane Beckford) 90+3’
LINEUPS
ELP – Benny Diaz, Nick Hinds, Yuma, Bence Pavkovics, Marc Navarro (Miles Lyons), Emmanuel Sonupe (Chris Garcia), Eric Calvillo, Liam Rose, Denys Kostyshyn (Louis Herrera), Aaron Gomez (Luis Solignac), Ricardo Zacarias
Subs Not Used: Eder Borelli, Erik McCue, Javier Garcia
COS – Christian Herrera, Matt Mahoney, Jimmy Ockford, Macauley King, Devon Williams, Patrick Seagrist, Drew Skundrich, Zach Zandi (Duke Lacroix), Jairo Henriquez (Jay Chapman, Dennis Erdman), Romario Williams (Aaron Wheeler), Maalique Foster (Deshane Beckford)
Subs Not Used: James Musa, Joe Kuzminsky
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
- ELP – Bence Pavkovics (Yellow Card) 56’, Louis Herrera (Yellow Card) 82’
- COS – Romario Williams (Yellow Card) 64’, Drew Skundrich (Yellow Card) 90+2’
MATCH STATS: ELP | COS
GOALS: 1|2
ASSISTS: 0|2
SHOTS: 14|12
SHOTS ON GOAL: 6|4
SAVES: 2|5
FOULS: 13|20
OFFSIDES: 2|4
CORNER KICKS: 8|4
UP NEXT: Saturday, March 18 vs Detroit City FC. Kickoff 7:30 p.m. MT @ Southwest University Park. Purchase tickets here. Locomotive close their three-game homestand against Detroit City FC. Fans are invited to come celebrate St. Paddy’s on the Pitch as well the first post-match fireworks show of 2023!
ON THE HORIZON: Saturday, March 25 at Louisville City FC. Kickoff 1 p.m. MT @ Lynn Family Stadium. Locomotive hit the road for their first away game of the 2023 season against the league runner-up and Eastern Conference champions, Louisville City FC.
Fans are invited to join and cheer on Locomotive at its official watch party, which will be held at Union Draft House Sunland (730 Sunland Park Dr. Ste. A) beginning at 1 p.m. MT!
ADDITIONAL INFO
The full 2023 match schedule can be found HERE.
All El Paso Locomotive FC Saturday home matches in 2023 will be simulcast on KTSM.com and Estrella TV El Paso 9.2 All USL Championship regular season and playoff games will be available to stream on ESPN+ in 2023.
All tickets for 2023, including Individual Match, Season Tickets and Pick Six Membership are on sale now and are available for purchase online at eplocomotivefc.com/tickets or within the official mobile app.
Fans who would like to secure full season tickets for the 2023 season can lock in their season ticket membership online by clicking HERE, calling (915) 235-GOAL or texting (915) 666-2005. You can also call (915) 235-GOAL for more information on Group Outings and Premium Suites. El Paso Locomotive FC does offer military discounts, which can be purchased HERE.
To check out the full 2023 promotional schedule, click HERE.