SAFC are back on the road for the 4th time in five games as they travel to face Real Monarchs on Saturday night. This will be the second of four matches between the two teams this season. The teams played to a 2-2 draw at Toyota Field back in May.
SAFC enter the match following a 1-1 draw against RGV-FC last week. SAFC are now winless in their last five games and they also have yet to get their first road victory of 2021. The slide has seen them tumble from 2nd in the division at the start of the month all the way to 6th and currently under the playoff line. Worse, four of the five teams above them in the standings have games in hand, so their hole in the division could grow even deeper. SAFC need a victory to keep pace.
The good news for SAFC is that their leading scorer Santiago Patiño is eligible to return to play this week after serving out his 3-match suspension for a red card issued at Colorado on June 5th.
But the road woes are becoming a major talking point. Going back to last season, SAFC only has one road victory in their last nine games away from Toyota Field.
Another storyline that is beginning to take shape is in the Discipline category. San Antonio is near the top of the league in several dubious categories. Second in Fouls Conceded with 154, Second in Yellow Cards at 27, and first in Red Cards with 3. Bottom line, the team needs to play smarter on the pitch. It’s a balancing act between Manager Alen Marcina’s aggressive style and putting the team in tough spots with fouls.
Midfielder Ollie Wright, who tallied his first Assist with the team last week, is counting on trust to see their fortunes change. “We have a system here that we trust in and we trust in our coaches. It’s showing on the field because we are getting our chances. We have faith that sooner or later those chances will be going in the back of the net. It’s a matter of staying strong, staying resilient and keeping that trust in ourselves.”
For Real Monarchs they will enter this game on a short week after traveling to play Tacoma Defiance on Wednesday night, a game that ended in a 1-1 draw. It has been a rough start to the year for the Monarchs. They only have one win and three draws in nine games this year. Their lone victory did come on their home ground when they defeated Sacramento Republic 2-0.
The offense for the Monarchs has been a real struggle. They have only scored 7 goals which is tied for fourth worst in all of USL Championship. Milan Iloski is their goal scoring leader with three goals scored. Meanwhile multiple players have tallied a single assist for the Monarchs, but no player has earned a second to this point.
Three Keepers have seen action for the Monarchs , led by Jeffrey Dewsnup with 4 appearances and 8 saves. Andrew Putna has their only clean sheet, while Dewsnup has conceded the most goals with 7. Kyle Adams paces their Defenders with 25 clearances.
The Monarchs have surrendered twelve goals and SAFC has conceded eleven; each among the bottom third of the league in that category. Among the last five games played for both teams, they have combined for exactly one win.
Marcina keeps preaching the process through the teams’ struggles. “When you trust the process, you have belief in your personnel, which we do. So, we will continue to work and at some point we will be executing, and when we do we will be a team to beat.”
SAFC will hope that execution comes to fruition this weekend with their first road victory.
The Matchup (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC (2-5-2, 11 points) at Real Monarchs (1-3-5, 6 points)
Zions Bank Stadium, Saturday June 26th, 2021
Kickoff 9:00 pm Central Time
Current Form (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC - 2021 Road Record 0-2-2
D-D-D-L-D
Real Monarchs – 2021 Home Record 1-1-3
L-W-L-L-D
All Time History (W-D-L)
Saturday will mark the 10th meeting between these two teams and the second of four meetings this season. San Antonio has done very well in the series overall. San Antonio are 5-2-2 vs the Monarchs all time. San Antonio has won 5 of the last 7 meetings.
Season Series
5/8/21 @ SA D 2-2
6/26/21 @ RM
8/21/21 @ SA
9/11/21 @RM
Last Time
The two teams battled to a 2-2 draw at Toyota Field back in May. The match featured a red card for both teams as Nathan was shown a straight red for SAFC in the 31st minute. Epps and Cuello scored first half goals for SAFC but two second half goals for the Monarchs left the points shared by both teams.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
IMAGES – SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER, USL CHAMPIONSHIP TWITTER