EL PASO, Texas – Thanks to the late heroics of forward Aaron Gomez, El Paso Locomotive FC (West-3, 9-5-5, 32 points) managed to draw 1-1 against Rio Grande Valley FC on Saturday night at Southwest University Park.
“We’re happy with getting that late equalizer,” Head Coach and Technical Director Brian Clarhaut said in the post-match press conference. “Good teams find ways to get points, so it was a good response going into the second half. We were tired, had a long week but we refuse to lose.”
Locomotive was put in a difficult position at the end of an evenly contested first half after Rio Grande Valley’s Wilmer Cabrera Jr. broke the deadlock in the 38′.
Looking to respond, El Paso arrived much stronger in the second half. Offensively, El Paso held 67% possession and had four shots on target of a possible six. On defense, El Paso limited RGV to only two shots on target and went 11-for-12 in tackles in the final 45 minutes.
Then in the 88′ minute off a set piece, defender Marc Navarro sent a cross into the box, which would find the diving head of Gomez who redirected the ball into the net to provide Locomotive with a crucial equalizer that rescued a point.
“I’m very glad to have been able to help out the team with a goal and get the draw,” Gomez said in Spanish after the match. “We still have lots of games left and we need to look forward. What happened today happened and we need to shift focus to Saturday against a strong opponent.”
FORECAST: 94ºF, cloudy
TEAM NOTES
- This is the second time this season El Paso has scored a goal in the final 15 minutes of regulation time.
- With his equalizer, Gomez now has two goals to his name in the 2023 USL Championship campaign.
- Navarro recorded his second assist of the season.
- This was the third time this season a Locomotive player off the bench scored a goal.
- Locomotive are 2-4-4 overall this season when opponents score first, 1-4-2 at Southwest University Park.
SCORING SUMMARY
- RGV 1 – Wilmer Cabrera Jr. (Tomas Ritondale) 38′
- ELP 1 – Aaron Gomez (Marc Navarro) 88′
LINEUPS
ELP – (4-3-3) Benny Diaz, Bence Pavkovics, Erik McCue, Eder Borelli – C, Miles Lyons (Marc Navarro), Louis Herrera (Ricardo Zacarias), Eric Calvillo, Liam Rose, Petar Petrovic (Aaron Gomez), Emmanuel Sonupe (Denys Kostyshyn), Luis Solignac (Chris Garcia)
Subs Not Used: Javier Garcia, Nick Hinds
RGV – (3-4-3) Tyler Deric, Jonathan Ricketts, Wahab Ackwei, Erik Pimentel – C (Gabriel Benitez), Tomas Ritondale (Ricky Ruiz), Frank Nodarse, Christiano Francois (Frank Lopez), Taylor Davila, Wilmer Cabrera Jr., Christian Pinzon, Robert Coronado
Subs Not Used: Carlos Merancio, Eric Kinzer, Ian Cerro, Juan Galindrez
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
- ELP – Eric Calvillo (Yellow) 22′, Luis Solignac (Yellow) 66′, Ricardo Zacarias (Yellow) 78′, Liam Rose (Yellow) 80′, Marc Navarro (Yellow) 90+6′
- RGV – Wilmer Cabrera (Yellow) 41′, Gabriel Benitez (Yellow) 71′
MATCH STATS: ELP | RGV
GOALS: 1|1
ASSISTS: 1|1
POSS. %: 59|41
SHOTS: 9|12
SHOTS ON GOAL: 6|4
SAVES: 3|5
FOULS: 19|19
OFFSIDES: 3|2
CORNERS: 4|5
UP NEXT: Saturday, July 22 vs Oakland Roots SC. Kickoff at 7:30 p.m. MT at Southwest University Park. El Paso Locomotive FC welcome Oakland Roots SC for its final home match of July, with Locomotive celebrating its second annual Christmas in July celebration!