SAFC will face RGV-FC for the second time in three weeks as the back drop shifts from the Valley to San Antonio and Toyota Field. It will be the last home match for SAFC until June 19th. The match will also double up as a Copa Tejas match, the second of twelve for San Antonio.
San Antonio is coming off a 2-1 victory over Birmingham Legion FC from the Eastern Conference. The win extended SAFC’s impressive regular season home unbeaten streak to 16 games, of which 12 have been wins. Quite simply, SAFC has become a dominant team at Toyota Field.
Santiago Patiño continues to be a big story for SAFC scoring the third fastest goal in team history on Saturday night at :43 seconds. That trails only an own-goal at :32 seconds (Real Monarchs) and Luis Solignac who scored in :09 seconds against RGV-FC last year. The goal is Patiño's team and league leading 5th of the season. As a team, SAFC are 5th in USL Championship in total goals scored with 8.
Manager Alen Marcina reflected on the way early goals change fortunes. “Goals change games. It fueled our fire. In the first half we were excellent in our pressing actions and won the ball in a lot of good spots. We were unfortunate to not get a few more goals. At the same time, Matt [Cardone] made some big saves and some other players made some good plays in key moments.”
Indeed, Matt Cardone was also impressive on Saturday night. He is tied for 6th place in USL Championship with 13 saves on the season. He matched his season high with 5 saves on Saturday while also putting out this remarkable moment where he made a double save to help preserve the win:
The other story of note in San Antonio from last week was the return of Forward Jordan Perruzza who rejoined SAFC for his second stint on loan from Toronto FC in MLS. Perruzza scored 3 goals in 5 League appearances for SAFC last season and he picked up right where he left off, scoring the match winner in the 81st minute in his season debut as a substitute. Not too shabby for the youngster who appeared for Toronto in the CONCACAF Champions League earlier this season. While the terms of the loan were not disclosed, San Antonio will certainly hope they can hang onto his services for as long as possible.
One worry for SAFC ahead of this week’s game could be injuries. Four players were still on the official injury list last week and two more SAFC players, Midfielder Jose Gallegos and Defender Sam Gleadle, had to exit the Birmingham game early due to injury.
RGV-FC will be playing their third straight Copa Tejas match in a row as last week they dropped a 1-0 defeat to El Paso Locomotive. Similar to SAFC’s game, El Paso also had an opening minute goal in their game, and once again it was former SAFC Forward Luis Solignac getting an opening minute score against RGV-FC.
He scored this one :18 seconds into the match, which means he now owns the fastest goal for both SAFC and El Paso and both goals were scored at RGV-FC’s expense. The goal held up for the win. The victory puts El Paso at the top of the Copa Tejas Standings based on goal differential. It was the first loss of the year for RGV-FC.
In the League standings, the RGV-FC loss coupled with the SAFC win leaves San Antonio just 2 points behind RGV-FC in the Mountain Division, so first place will be on the line on Saturday night. But despite the loss RGV-FC remains one of the stingiest Defenses in the League. They have only surrendered two goals through 4 games. Only El Paso and Orange County have surrendered fewer goals, but both of those teams have also played 2 fewer games.
Keeper Tyler Deric has two clean sheets which is tied for best in the League and Adrian Diz Pe paces the team with 18 clearances. Four different players have scored for RGV-FC.
There was also some off the field RGV-FC news recently as former team President Ron Patel announced his resignation on May 13th. The news came as a surprise but reports indicate an amicable split. Patel took to Twitter following the announcement:
SAFC implemented a different formation last week and after the Birmingham win Marcina talked a little bit about the team philosophy. “Every game we go in with a different strategy. For us, it’s not so much about formations, it’s about implementing our principles irrespective of our shape.”
Regardless of how SAFC line up on Saturday, they’ll be hoping for a different outcome against their Texas rivals in the rematch, and they’ll be hoping those same principles lead the way.
The Matchup (W-D-L)
RGV FC (3-0-1, 9 points) at San Antonio FC (2-1-1, 7 points)
Toyota Field, Saturday May 29th, 2021
Kickoff 7:30pm Central Time
Current Form (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC - 2021 Home Record 2-1-0
W-D-L-W-
RGV FC – 2021 Road Record 0-0-1
W-W-W-L-
All Time History (W-D-L)
Saturday will mark the 18th meeting between these two teams (6-5-6). SAFC took 10 of 12 possible points from RGV-FC last season, but RGV-FC’s win 2 weeks ago evened the total series up at 23 points for each side. A winner on Saturday night would go back in front on points in the all-time head to head match up.
Last Time
RGV-FC defeated SAFC 2-1 at HEB park on May 16th. Kuzain and Sorto scored for RGV-FC in the win while Patiño tallied for San Antonio in defeat. Here are the match highlights:
Season Series
5/16/21 @ RGV L 1-2
5/29/21 @ SA
6/19/21 @ SA
8/8/21 @ RGV
IMAGES: SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER, RGV FC TWITTER