San Antonio FC heads back out on the road this Saturday night as they will take on Las Vegas Lights FC. It will be the first of two road games in what will be their final road trip of the regular season. SAFC comes into this win after a huge home win over the number two team in USL Championship West, Fresno Foxes. SAFC defeated them 2-1 over the weekend thanks to Defender Moises Hernandez’ first ever goal with SAFC.
SAFC has struggled on the road for most of the season, but they should head to Sin City with confidence, and not just from their impressive win over Fresno. San Antonio FC has never lost to Las Vegas in three previous games. They’ll need to make it four straight to keep their playoff hopes going.
Defender Joshua Yaro knows the ups and downs the sport can bring. “Soccer is interesting because you beat really good teams and lose to teams you shouldn’t lose to or tie against. Any day it’s anyone’s game. You never know what’s going to happen, it’s unpredictable and that’s one of the best things about this game. You cannot take things lightly.”
Las Vegas opens their final regular season home stand with this match against San Antonio. Prior to that, they wrapped up a two-game road trip last weekend against Colorado where they earned an impressive 3-1 win. Zooming out to the bigger picture and they have lost three of their last five.
Irvin Parra easily leads the Lights in goal scoring with 11 Goals. No one else has more than 6. Parra is also the assist leader for the lights with 6.
Thomas Olsen is the main man between the pipes, appearing in 28 games. He has 78 saves and nine clean sheets on the season. That is good for third best in USL Championship West. It’s the kind of stat that makes you scratch your head a bit when you glance at the standings and see Las Vegas in 13th place. With Goal Keeping like that, one would expect a better overall season for the Lights. Meanwhile, Adam Hobbs has appeared twice in Goal for Las Vegas.
Gabe Robinson is the clear leader on Defense for the Lights, and he’s one of the best in all of USL. He has an eye popping 163 clearances on the season. Yaro leads SAFC with 121 to put that number into perspective.
History is on SAFC’s side in this match-up where San Antonio has never lost a game. But that could be negated by San Antonio’s poor road form. SAFC needs to find a way to ride the momentum of a big victory over the weekend and turn it into a winning streak as the calendar flips to October. Their playoff hopes surely depend on it.
Manager Darren Powell, for one, is a believer in his team. “We have a very good team and group of players. We’ve put ourselves in a position where we have to get points, and that’s where we’re at. This team can put some very good performances together and is capable of making sure we score goals and defend well.”
The Matchup (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC (11-8-12) at Las Vegas Lights FC (10-8-13)
Cashman Field, Saturday October 5th, 2019
Kickoff 9:30pm Central Time
Table Position
Current Form (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC - 2019 Road Record 2-3-10
L-W-D-L-W
Las Vegas Lights – 2019 Home Record 8-4-3
L-L-W-L-W
All Time History (W-D-L)
Saturday will mark the fourth meeting between these two franchises as the rivalry finishes its second season in 2019. San Antonio swept the year one match-ups with identical home and away victories by the same 3-1 scoreline and added a 2-1 home win earlier this year. All time San Antonio is a perfect 3-0-0 vs Las Vegas.
Season Series
4/6/19 @ SA W, 2-1
10/5/19 @ LV
Last Time
San Antonio defeated Las Vegas 2-1 on April 6th at Toyota Field. San Antonio had goals from Bradford Jamieson and Ever Guzman. Las Vegas added a second half added time goal from Irvin Parra to spoil the clean sheet, but it was too little too late to salvage any points.
Here are the match highlights:
SAFC Wins If :
…if they can continue their perfect form against Las Vegas and generate some momentum on the road. SAFC continues to ride the old Scorpions connection of Walter Restrepo and Rafa Castillo, but they’ll probably need a dose of Frank Lopez and Jack Barmby to take this season to the playoffs.
PHOTOS: DARREN ABATE / INSTAGRAM: @PEAKACTION
IMAGES: SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER