SACRAMENTO, Calif. – November 7, 2026 – El Paso Locomotive FC fell 2-1 to Sacramento Republic FC in the Western Conference Semifinals on Saturday night, bringing its 2026 playoff run to an end.
Sacramento was the first to find the back of the net, opening the scoring in the 14th minute. However, Alex Méndez and the Locos responded just seven minutes later, with Méndez leveling the match in the 21st minute.
Neither side would find another goal before the halftime whistle, sending both teams into the locker room deadlocked at 1-1.
Sacramento came out with offensive pressure to start the second half, capitalizing on an opportunity in the 51st minute to regain the lead.
Méndez had one final opportunity to pull Locomotive level in the closing seconds of stoppage time, but his effort rang off the post as the final whistle confirmed a 2-1 result in favor of Sacramento.
SAC 2, ELP 1
Heart Health Park
Attendance: 11,569
MATCH NOTES
- With his goal in tonight’s match, Alex Méndez finished the season with 10 goals across all competitions, ranking second on the team.
- Locomotive reached the Western Conference Semifinals for just the third time in club history, marking its first appearance in the round since the 2020 season.
SCORING SUMMARY
- SAC – 14’ Cal Jennings (Mayele Malango), 57’ Michelle Benitez (Memo Rodriguez)
- ELP – 21’ Alex Méndez
LINEUPS
SAC – (4-2-3-1) Danny Vitiello, Michelle Benítez, Lee Desmond, Jared Timmer, Jack Gurr, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Pep Casas, Mayele Malango (72’ Ryan Spaulding), Memo Rodriguez (81’ Blake Willey), Danny Crisostomo, Cal Jennings (71’ Kyle Edwards)
Subs Not Used: Freddy Kleemann, Forster Ajago, Tim Leibold, Jacob Randolph, Reid Raskey
ELP– (3-4-3) Abraham Romero, Tony Alfaro, Palermo Ortiz, Kofi Twumasi, Ricky Ruiz (45’ Gabi Torres), Alvaro Quezada (61’ Beto Avila), Eric Calvillo (88’ Daniel Gomez), Robert Coronado (88’ Carl Sainté), Amando Moreno (71’ Noah Dollenmayer), Rubio Rubin, Alex Mendez
Subs Not Used: Omar Mora, Kenneth Hoban, Trace Alphin
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
- SAC – 65’ Mayele Malango, 66’ Jack Gurr
- ELP –
MATCH STATS: SAC | ELP
GOALS: 2|1
ASSISTS: 2|0
POSSESSION: 40|60
SHOTS: 17|16
SHOTS ON GOAL: 5|6
SAVES: 5|3
FOULS: 13|14
OFFSIDES: 0|1
CORNERS: 5|3