San Antonio FC will face RGV FC for the fourth and final time this season on Saturday night as these two teams meet for the second week in a row for the second time in 2020. For the first time since March, SAFC will welcome fans back to Toyota Field for the match. Capacity will be capped at 25% and only Season Ticket Members have the option to attend.
These two teams met in the Valley over the weekend and SAFC dominated the game, 3-1. The win evened the all time series between these two teams at 5-5-5. San Antonio FC can earn their first ever lead in the head to head series with a win on Saturday night.
San Antonio FC are now the only unbeaten team in all of USL Championship.
Three different players scored for SAFC including Defender Blake Smith who scored his first goal in a San Antonio uniform. He also had an Assist in the game. “When I get in the box and get an opportunity – it’s rare – so I’m happy I was able to put that one away. All season long I’ve been able to get tons of service in from the flanks, but I feel like my service has fallen short thus far this season. I was happy to get back on track, because I tend to pride myself on my deliveries.”
Smith was named to USL Championship Team of the Week on Tuesday for his performance.
Luis Solignac added his 5th goal of the season which ties him for 9th among all goal scorers across USL Championship and it puts him all alone at 7th in the Western Conference.
SAFC are unbeaten in four straight games against RGV-FC and have only lost one time in their last nine meetings, a stretch of games that dates back to October 2017.
This match-up represents a tale of two teams going in very different directions. San Antonio will be trying for their 4th straight victory overall. RGV-FC remains winless in 2020 and have lost three straight games. Making things more challenging for RGV-FC is the fact that they also had a mid week game against Tulsa on Wednesday night, losing 2-1.
SAFC are cruising through Group D through ten games as they have opened up an 11-point lead over Austin and Tulsa who are tied for second place. There are six games left for SAFC and they are 11 points away from clinching the Group. Four wins or three wins plus two draws in their remaining games would ensure they clinch the Group no matter what the other teams do.
The big highlight for RGV-FC last weekend was the goal by Castellanos. It was his second goal and he was the first player to score more than one goal for RGV-FC this season. Prpa matched him by adding his second goal of the year in the Tulsa game Wednesday night.
They’ll have their hands full with a San Antonio team that is putting up eye opening statistics. SAFC’s twenty goals are tied for third across all of USL Championship. Their six clean sheets is best in the entire league. Their 5 goals conceded are also best in all of USL Championship. It is shaping up to be a special season for SAFC.
Blake Smith talked about the lack of satisfaction with their last win. "We are obviously happy to get the result. Getting all three points was what we wanted to do. We were a bit sloppy both offensively and defensively. We are happy with the result but there’s a lot to improve upon for the next match.”
If San Antonio still has room to improve, that should send a shiver down RGV-FC’s collective spine, and for that matter, all of USL Championship.
The Matchup (W-D-L)
RGV-FC (0-3-8, 3 points)
at San Antonio FC (7-3-0, 24 points)
Toyota Field, Saturday September 5th, 2020
Kickoff 8:00pm Central Time
Table Position
Current Form (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC - 2020 Home Record (4-1-0)
D-D-W-W-W
RGV FC – 2020 Road Record (0-2-4)
L-D-L-L-L
All Time History (W-D-L)
Friday will mark the 16th all-time meeting between the two clubs. RGV FC is the most common league opponent for SAFC in their history. After RGV FC won four of the first six matches between these two clubs San Antonio has improved, only losing one time in their last nine meetings. All time SAFC is 5-5-5 against their Texas rivals with RGV-FC.
Season Series
7/19/20 @ RGVD 1-1
7/25/20 @ SA W 1-0
8/29/20 @ RGV W 3-1
9/5/20 @ SA
Last Time
Last week San Antonio FC defeated RGV-FC 3-1 behind goals from Blake Smith, Luis Solignac and Gonzalo Di Renzo.
Here are the Match Highlights:
SAFC Wins If :
…if they keep doing what they are doing. They are the clear better team and they will certainly be boosted emotionally by having home fans back in the building on Saturday. Barring something unusual, this should be a win for SAFC.
IMAGES: SAFC TWITTER, RGV-FC TWITTER
PHOTOS: DARREN ABATE, INSTAGRAM: @PEAKACTION