FC Juarez Men & Women Begin 2025 Apertura Season

The men and women of FC Juarez will begin their respective seasons this weekend at home. The men will host Club America on Friday night while the women receive Atlas on Saturday night. Meanwhile, El Paso Locomotive FC will travel west to face Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday night as well.

Club America comes to the Borderland

The Mexican soccer powerhouse that is Club America arrived in Ciudad Juarez on Thursday afternoon. On Friday night, FC Juarez and Club America will face off in the season opener for the 2025 Apertura season at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium.

The Bravos are coming off of their best season in club history in which they obtained 24 points good enough for ninth place in the standings table. As a result, they made it into the play-in round of playoffs losing to Pumas at home in a penalty kick shootout. Because of this, expectations are high for Juarez as they will look to transcend this season by obtaining more points than last season and thus getting a better position in the standings table in order to be locked into the playoffs and not have to bother with a play-in scenario.

Obtaining the first three points that will be up for grabs on Friday night will be no easy task as Club America comes to Borderland looking for another successful season. America made it to the championship for the fourth consecutive season last spring ultimately falling to Toluca. Since then Club America has had a busy start to the summer with a lot of commitments and limited time to prepare for the upcoming season. However, one year ago the team from Mexico City found themselves in a similar situation and went on to win the title. But they did have a slow start and this can play into the hands of the Bravos.

On Thursday morning goalkeeper and team captain for FC Juarez, Sebastian Juarado spoke with the media ahead of the season opener. Jurado said, “We had a very good and solid preseason. We started by having two weeks here at home before going to Queretaro and training over there with a couple of preseason matches where the team obtained positive results. Upon returning we played New Mexico and last week Santos in which a lot of different players got a lot of minutes as the team continued to look solid.” Juardo pointed out, “We were the fifth best defense last season and we want to continue down a similar path.”

Fans not in attendance on Friday night will have plenty of viewing options as the match will be broadcast across three different networks, Fox Deportes, NBC Universo, and Estrella TV. It was announced earlier in the week that Telemundo/NBC Universo and Estrella TV will broadcast all FC Juarez home matches this season. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 9 p.m. MST.

Bravas face Atlas

Twenty two hours after the big FC Juarez-Club America match is over it will be the women’s turn to start their season as they will host Atlas on Saturday night. The Bravas will be looking for a fourth consecutive playoff appearance in this 2025 Apertura season.

Last year they barely made it into the playoffs, locking up the eighth and final spot. The Bravas obtained 26 points on the season but had a rather dismal final stretch run in the regular season that led to also a poor performance in the playoffs in which they were eliminated in the opening round.

Juarez will face an Atlas team that finished one place ahead of them last season (7th, with 28 points). Atlas is a team that has been on the come up recently and is looking to be competitive once again.

Bravas star forward Jasmine Casarez spoke to the media also on Thursday morning. The fan favorite, southern California native is very clear on what the objectives are for the 2025 Apertura season, “The objective this season is to take it game by game (make the playoffs), but make it further than the quarterfinals, we want to make it to the semi-finals, we want to make it to the finals, that is a team objective to get to the Championship. As for my personal objective, it would be to keep growing, on and off the field, and being consistent to help the team in any way that I can.”

Saturday night’s match is scheduled for a 9 p.m. kickoff and will be televised nationally on Fox Deportes.

Locomotive faces Sacramento Republic FC on the road

As per John Morgan, communications coordinator for El Paso Locomotive:

El Paso Locomotive FC head back to the Golden State for a fourth time this season to take on Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, July 12 at Heart Health Park at 9 p.m. MT. The match will be streaming on CBS Sports Golazo Network.

HOW TO WATCH EL PASO LOCOMOTIVE FC VS SACRAMENTO REPUBLIC FC – SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2025 @ 9:00 P.M. MT – HEART HEALTH PARK – SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
Watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network

Be sure to follow @eplocomotivefc on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for live updates of the match. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team’s official mobile app on the Apple App Store or Google Play for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.

KEY STORYLINES
In the highest attended home match in club history, El Paso Locomotive FC lost a heartbreaker in 2-1 fashion against San Antonio FC last Friday night at Southwest University Park.
Locomotive were forced to defend early and ultimately let a goal slip by in the 11th minute after a giveaway in the back. El Paso created a few good chances on the counter and held 57 percent of possession but still trailed at the break. Los Locos took control early in the second half with Amando Moreno following up a deflected shot from Frank Daroma to even the match up. An unmarked player after a cleared ball on a set piece, however, was enough for the visitors to walk away with three points.
A pair of Locomotive players were announced as nominees for USL Championship midseason awards this week. Andy Cabrera is in the running for Player of the Year while Arturo Ortiz is up for Defender of the Year.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
F Andy Cabrera: After earning Player of the Month honors for the USL Championship in May, Cabrera has cooled down just a bit but remains a threat in front of goal. He sits just four goals shy of the single season club record with half the season remaining.
M Frank Daroma: Aside from a match missed due to suspension, Daroma has started every league match for Los Locos in the midfield. He has been a primary facilitator for Locomotive out of the defensive end while also tallying a goal and three assists on the year.
D Noah Dollenmayer: After returning last week, this will be Dollenmayer’s first start since returning from international duty with the Dominican Republic national team. He started all five matches in the recent foreign window including against Mexico in the opening match of the Gold Cup while also scoring his second international goal in a 5-0 win against Dominica on June 10.

OPPONENT INFO: Sacramento Republic FC
El Paso leads the all-time series with Sacramento, 6-4-0, with the most high-profile match between the two clubs coming in the club's inaugural season during the Western Conference Semifinals. Los Locos were victorious at home, 3-0.
In Locomotive's final home match last season, the club managed a 2-1 victory over Sacramento behind two first-half goals from Lucas Stauffer and Tony Alfaro. This was also the final match in El Paso for club legends Yuma and Eder Borelli.
Sacramento sits just three points back of Locomotive in the Western Conference standings. The club has won their last two matches in league play both in shutout fashion on the road. They are anchored by Danny Vitiello at the back who was recently nominated for midseason Goalkeeper of the Year in the Championship while Russell Cicerone has served as the primary attacking option.

KEY LOCOMOTIVE STATISTICS
- This match will be El Paso Locomotive's 200th regular season match in USL Championship.
- Andy Cabrera leads the USL Championship with nine non-penalty goals.
- Gabi Torres leads the league with 27 interceptions.
- Los Locos have won the most fouls in the USL Championship this season (273).
- Eric Calvillo is expected to pass Yuma for third all-time in appearances for Locomotive with his 116th match played this weekend.

RECENT LOCOMOTIVE QUOTES
HC Wilmer Cabrera on defensive improvements going forward:
"It has to be a little bit of everything, but we've been struggling with the individual mistakes. Checking the stats, we allow the least shots per game in the whole league, but we are making silly mistakes. Each game at this point is a final for us because the Western Conference is so tight, so we need to be smart and organized and go over there with a winning mentality."
Cabrera on taking advantage of summer heat:
"When it's hot, we need to hold the ball. This is important to us. During the summer, if you don't keep the ball, you're going to run and drain yourself mentally a little bit more than the opponent. You need to protect the ball in the heat because that's going to give you the extra energy that you need just to continue running."
Amando Moreno on Western Conference race:
"With it being as close as it is right now, it gives you more incentive and motivation to try and get as many points as possible to stay in this thing. Everyone's still trying to fight and compete for these playoff spots which is our main objective right now.”