San Antonio FC will play their second and final game against a non-Group D opponent in the 2020 regular season as they will travel to face El Paso Locomotive on Saturday. Typically, this would be billed as a Copa Tejas clash, but the regional regular season Cup Tournament had to be abandoned this season due to the revised shortened schedule.
Things are going about as good as anyone could hope for SAFC. With their 3-2 win over RGV-FC they are undefeated through 11 games and the only unbeaten team in USL Championship. They have won 4 straight games and they lead Group D by 12 points with five games to play.
And thanks to two straight draws between Austin and Tulsa, the latest coming Tuesday night in a 2-2 result, San Antonio FC now find themselves in position to clinch Group D with a win in this game. A win would give San Antonio 30 points. While Austin and Tulsa could each mathematically still get to 30 points as well, they wouldn’t be able to catch San Antonio in the win column with one more SAFC victory.
Very simply, one more win in SAFC’s five remaining games and San Antonio FC are Group D Winners and will be heading to the playoffs for the second time in team history (2017).
With the Group and San Antonio’s first playoff birth in three years just about locked up, eyes start to drift towards the next big goal, which would be home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Reno and Phoenix are in the mix as of this writing with Reno being the closest to SAFC. Reno are 3 points behind SAFC with one game in hand. But keep an eye on Goal Differential and Goals Scored the rest of the way. It could matter for tiebreakers. As it stands Reno and Phoenix each hold the edge over SAFC in both categories.
For Manager Alen Marcina, he likes what he sees but it’s still one game at a time. “I think it’s been a collective effort. Our pressing starts from our front guys, and when we look to attack its starts with our back guys. It’s a collective effort on both ends of the ball. Players have been committed and I’m proud of them for that. Now it’s about recovery and focus on our next opponent.”
Marcina is sharing in his team's accolades as well. He was named USL Championship Coach of the Month for August, a first time Award both for the Manager and for the San Antonio FC organization.
Forward Luis Solignac continues to put up impressive numbers. He scored 9 seconds into the match on Saturday; the fastest goal ever in SAFC history. He leads the team in Goals (6) and Assists (4). He has scored in 4 straight games. And he has tallied a Goal or an Assist in 8 of the 11 games he has played this season. On Saturday, he had one of each.
He talked about getting that all important first goal. “I think it’s one of the main targets we have – to score first. Everything in this league is easier when you score first. The other team has to start chasing. Especially when you do it as quick as today, the mood of the other team changes. It’s really important and it makes everything easier.”
Never one to sit on their laurels, SAFC added a new Forward into the mix on Tuesday when they announced the loan of Forward Jordan Perruzza from Toronto FC of MLS. The 6’ 1” 19-year old Canadian scored 15 goals in USL League One last season.
Alen Marcina noted, “Jordan is a great young talent, a culture fit, and he will add to our attacking group. He has demonstrated the ability to score goals, he exhibits a growth mindset and he is committed to the aggressive playing style required in our game model."
El Paso comes into this match playing really well. They defeated New Mexico United over the weekend by the same 3-2 scoreline that SAFC had. El Paso has won two straight games and they are unbeaten in their last five, winning four of them. They have only lost one match at home in 2020, winning 4 of 6. They enter the game in second place in Group C.
Dylan Mares and Aaron Gomez are the scoring leaders for El Paso this season. Each player has 3 goals. Mares also leads in Assists with 3 and Chances Created with 30. That last one is eye opening when you realize no one else on the team has more than 12.
Defensively Logan Ketterer is once again the man in the Net for El Paso and he is one of the very best in USL Championship. He has 29 saves through 10 games, which puts him top ten in the league. He has conceded 12 goals and he has 4 clean sheets. He is tied for second in all of USL Championship in the latter category.
Mechack Jerome paves the way on the back line with 19 clearances while Chiro N’Toko and Brent Kallman are each keeping pace with 17. As a team, the 4 clean sheets for El Paso is tied for 5th in all of USL Championship. This sets up as a pretty good Lone Star battle on Saturday night.
The Matchup (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC (8-3-0, 27 points)
at El Paso Locomotive (5-3-2, 18 points)
Southwest University Park, Saturday September 12th, 2020
Kickoff 8:30pm Central Time
Table Position
Current Form (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC - 2020 Road Record (3-2-0)
D-W-W-W-W
El Paso Locomotive – 2020 Home Record (4-1-1)
W-W-D-W-W
All Time History (W-D-L)
This will be the third meeting between these two clubs. San Antonio has yet to lose in the series drawing at home and wining on the road last year. San Antonio leads the all-time series 1-1-0.
Season Series
9/15/20 @ ELP
Last Time
These two teams met on this same ground last July and San Antonio cruised to a 3-1 victory behind a first-half brace from Frank Lopez and a goal from Bradford Jamieson. Fox scored for El Paso.
Here are the match highlights:
SAFC Wins If :
…if they can rise up to their stiffest challenge since the restart. This match could be an indicator of how SAFC will play once they get outside of Group D play in the postseason. El Paso are tough at home and they have one of the best Keepers in all of USL Championship. There may not be any Copa Tejas this season, but you can bet bragging rights are still at stake.
IMAGES: SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER, EL PASO LOCOMOTIVE TWITTER
PHOTOS: DARREN ABATE, INSTAGRAM: @PEAKACTION