El Paso Locomotive FC Kick-Off Season, While Bravos & Bravas Sit at 17 Points

El Paso Locomotive FC will kickoff their 2024 season on Saturday night when they host Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Southwest University Park. The 2025 campaign will be the seventh season in competition for Locomotive which was founded in 2018, making their debut in the USL Championship one year later. 

El Paso, which is coming off their worst season in club history, finishing in last place in the western conference will start their season by welcoming a Colorado Springs side that is the defending league champion. This presents the Locos with an excellent opportunity to set the right tone particularly with their fan base of a possible turnaround of what was a nightmare of a 2024 season where they only had eight victories in 34 matches.

Midfielder Eric Calvillo confirmed earlier in the week during media availability that redemption is most definitely a theme for this upcoming season and made it clear that the new players are aware of it too. Calvillo said, “They know what they signed up for. They know exactly where we finished last season, and even though they were a part of that, they are a part of it now. They’re wearing the crest, representing the organization, so they are taking responsibility that they are now in the last place team from last season and what are they going to do about it.”

Locomotive head coach Wilmer Cabrera also spoke with the media earlier in the week, in general terms he expressed he was happy with his team’s preseason campaign. Cabrera highlighted the team’s mental approach leading up to this season. The head coach from Colombia expressed, “I’m happy with the work they have put in, particularly their mentality behind it, both collectively and individually was spectacular. We have implemented a new style of comradery, it’s more professional, more responsible and more committed. This is fundamental to put into place since the beginning if we want to have a good season.”      

When asked about the rather slim roster of 24 players (a typical soccer roster is between 27 to 30 players), he said he was comfortable with it and sufficient to establish a day-to-day competition at every position.

When asked about team objectives for the 2025 season, Cabrera didn’t hesitate. “First we need to be one of the best teams in the league when playing at home. We have to be strong at home, that when other teams come to El Paso they will face a strong team. That they are going to face a team that is going to come out to win for the entire 90-minutes of a home match. We to be a team that is constantly in the top spots of western conference table, and of course, to make the playoffs in search of something bigger.”

Saturday’s home opener is scheduled to kickoff at 7:00 p.m. MST. Tickets are available on the Locomotive’s website. The match will also be televised on ESPN+ and locally on the CW.

Bravos and Bravas have identical records/points

After 10 matches in the 2025 clausura season FC Juarez Bravos and Bravas in the same boat. Both the men’s and women’s team have 17 points thus far on the with the exact same record, five wins, two draws and three loses. The only difference is that the Bravos are in eighth place while the Bravas are in seventh.

The men are coming off a disappointing 2-2 draw to Pachuca last Saturday at home. A match in which Juarez was leading 2-0 at halftime. Meanwhile, the women fell on the road to Toluca by the score of 3-1. This is the Bravas third consecutive loss, currently going through a part of their season where they are struggling to move on without forward Prisca Chilufya who was left to the team via a mid-season transfer to the NWSL.

Up next for Bravos will be a road match tonight against Atletico San Luis, while Bravas host Atlas on Sunday. The Bravos match is scheduled to kickoff at 6 p.m. MST and will be televised on VIX (Univision/Televisa’s streaming platform). While the Bravas are scheduled to kickoff at 4 p.m. MST and will be televised on FC Juarez’s YouTube channel.