EL PASO, Texas – In an intense and exciting match on the road, El Paso Locomotive FC (West-2, 8-3-2, 26 points) displayed strength and resilience against the reigning league champions San Antonio FC, coming back twice to post a 2-2 draw and extend its undefeated record to 10 matches.
A San Antonio goal in the 4’ put Locomotive in a tough spot early on but Los Locos would not let that deter them from bringing the fight.
In the 11’, SAFC goalkeeper Jordan Farr came out his box to intercept a deep-cross from Locomotive defender Erik McCue, but he misjudges it and leaves a wide-open net for forward Aaron Gomez, who did not hesitate to bury the gifted opportunity and record his first goal of the season.
San Antonio would press forward to find the back of the net two more times in the first half, but both were disallowed thanks to the great executions of offside traps from the Locomotive defense.
SAFC’s offensive press would breakthrough to find the lead once again in the 62’. This time, SAFC held on to their lead much longer, tightening up the defense to deny Locomotive any opportunity to create chances up top.
Fortunately, Locomotive would equalize yet again thanks to a volley in the box from forward Luis “Lucho” Solignac off an assist from defender Miles Lyons, who was introduced to the match eight minutes before.
Both sides battled it out to try to find the lead, but ultimately split the points to conclude the first Copa Tejas match of the season.
FORECAST: 92ºF, clear skies
TEAM NOTES
- Locomotive now extends its undefeated record to 10 matches (8 wins, 2 draws)
- As a result of the draw, Locomotive’s seven-match win streak came to an end, with the club cementing itself joint-sixth in league history for most consecutive wins.
- Gomez scored his first goal of the 2023 season.
- Both McCue and Lyons recorded their first assists of the 2023 season. This is also the first assist for Lyons in his professional career.
- Locomotive has extended its scoring streak to 12 matches, scoring 21 goals in that run.
SCORING SUMMARY
- SA 1 – Mitchell Taintor (Jorge Hernandez) 4’
- ELP 1 – Aaron Gomez (Erik McCue) 11’
- SA 2 – Samuel Adeniran (Justin Dhillon) 60’
- ELP 2 – Luis Solignac (Miles Lyons) 78’
LINEUPS
ELP – (4-2-3-1) Benny Diaz, Bence Pavkovics, Erik McCue, Eder Borelli – C (Nick Hinds), Marc Navarro (Miles Lyons), Eric Calvillo, Liam Rose, Aaron Gomez, Denys Kostyshyn (Louis Herrera), Luis Solignac, Ricardo Zacarias (Emmanuel Sonupe)
Subs Not Used: Javier Garcia, Diego Abarca, Chris Garcia
SA – (4-4-2) Jordan Farr, Carter Manley (Lamar Batista), Fabien Garcia, Mitchell Taintor – C, Connor Maloney, Mohammed Abu, Shannon Gomez, Rida Zouhir (PC), Jorge Hernandez (Cristian Parano), Justin Dhillon (Ignacio Bailone), Samuel Adeniran (Niko Hansen) (Juan Carlos Azocar)
Subs Not Used: Jose Carlos Mercado
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
- ELP – Marc Navarro (Yellow Card) 15’, Erik McCue (Yellow Card) 36’, Luis Solignac (Yellow Card) 45+2’
- SA – Mohammed Abu (Yellow Card) 7’, Mitchell Taintor (Yellow Card) 45+3’, Jorge Hernandez (Yellow Card) 56’
MATCH STATS: ELP | SA
GOALS: 2|2
ASSISTS: 2|2
POSS. %: 65|35
SHOTS: 13|12
SHOTS ON GOAL: 4|5
SAVES: 3|2
FOULS: 14|17
OFFSIDES: 0|8
CORNERS: 4|9
UP NEXT: Wednesday, June 14 vs Tampa Bay Rowdies. Kickoff at 7 p.m. MT at Southwest University Park. El Paso Locomotive return to Southwest University Park for the first of a three-game home stretch and welcome Las Vegas Lights on Pride Night, with the first 1,500 fans in the stadium receiving a free Pride Night fanny pack!