Defenders aren't exactly known for their goal scoring, but it was Defender Moises Hernandez who was the hero for the silver and black Saturday night. The loanee from MLS' FC Dallas scored his first ever goal for SAFC - and what a time to do it. His goal in the 67' broke the deadlock and propelled SAFC to a much needed 2-1 win in front of 7,932 fans at Toyota Field.
With the win San Antonio FC (11-8-12) proved that when they are at their best, they can beat anyone in this league, as the number two team in USL Championship West, Fresno Foxes FC (16-8-6) lost for only the 6th time this season. The win also proves that home is indeed sweet for SAFC. With only one home game remaining in 2019, they have only been defeated twice at the friendly confines of Toyota Field.
Midfielder Walter Restrepo opened the scoring in the game in the 17'. That goal was assisted by Moises Hernandez. The roles would be reversed later as Restrepo would get the assist on Hernandez' impressive match winner. Said Hernandez after the match, “We need to keep showing the fight we showed today. Today you saw that we fought for 90 minutes, we need to keep that same intensity and do that stuff on the road to get three points, which are really valuable for us right now.”
The win keeps SAFC's playoff hopes very much alive. The Western Table remains quite tight as only 5 points separate 7th place through 14th. The top 10 teams will qualify for the post-season. For the time being, SAFC sits in 9th place, but a lot can still change over the final three weeks.
The second half of this match was very feisty as a combined 7 yellow cards were issued to the teams, and there was also a huge dust-up that involved all 22 players on the field after a hard foul, which ultimately stopped the match for several minutes. In the end SAFC's Restrepo and Midfielder Cristian Parano were both yellow carded, and somewhat remarkably, no one was thrown out of the match.
Fresno's Alex Cooper leveled the game at one on a free kick goal in the 55' as once again set pieces reared their ugly head for a SAFC team that has surrendered multiple goals of that variety this season. Thanks to the Hernandez heroics, it didn't cost them this time.
SAFC Manager Darren Powell had the final word. “I’m very proud of our players for their application tonight and their attitude to earn those three points. They worked very hard on both sides of the ball and it wasn’t an easy game. (Fresno is) a very good team and they’re top two in the league.”
San Antonio FC returns to the road for their next two matches before returning home for their final game of the season on Saturday October 19th.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
Scoring Summary:
SAFC: 1-0, Walter Restrepo (Moises Hernandez assist) 18’
FFC: 1-1, Alex Cooper 55’
SAFC: 2-1, Moises Hernandez (Walter Restrepo assist) 67’
Disciplinary Summary:
FFC: Yellow Card (Ramon Del Campo) 8’
FFC: Yellow Card (Jems Geffrard) 49’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Joshua Yaro) 53’
FFC: Yellow Card (Jackson) 62’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Cristian Parano) 71’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Walter Restrepo) 71’
FFC: Yellow Card (Suleiman Samura) 78’
SAFC: Yellow Card (Rafa Castillo) 78’
Attendance: 7,932
TWEET OF THE NIGHT:
PHOTOS: DARREN ABATE / INSTAGRAM: @PEAKACTION
IMAGES: SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER