FC Juarez Woman Ready For Playoffs, Locos Head to Land of Dixie

History will be made tonight at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium when the FC Juarez Bravas will face Club America women in their first ever playoff match. The Bravas qualified after having the best regular season in club history obtaining 28 points, the most points for a regular season that the women have ever earned.

Head coach and technical director Milagros Martinez continues to work her magic in turning this team around in only her second season. The acquisition of players like California native Jasmin Casarez and Dallas native Miah Zuazua in addition to players Julitha Singano and Jermaine Seoposenwe form Tanzania and South Africa respectively have really paid off as they have established themselves as vital players to the improvement of the squad.

Zuazua and Casarez have become regular call ups to the Mexican Women's National Team.

America will come into the Borderland in the third seed in the playoff bracket with 37 points during the regular season as a result of 11 wins, four draws and only two losses. Juarez, the sixth seed, reached 28 points as a result of eighth wins, four draws and five losses.

During the regular season when these two teams met the match ended in a 3-3 draw back week 12 of the regular season, with the match taking place at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium.

Tonight’s match is scheduled for an 8 pm kickoff and will be televised nationally on Fox Deportes.

Locomotive look to keep rolling

El Paso Locomotive FC will try to extend their current seven match unbeaten streak in which they have won their last five matches against a new opponent, the Birmingham Legion on Saturday night. That match will take place in the state of Alabama. It is the first time that these two teams will face each other.

Despite the Legion losing their last three matches, they are still in third place in the eastern conference of the USL Championship making it another tough match for El Paso.

Head coach and technical director Brian Clarhaut spoke with the media earlier in the week and gave credit to his team’s defensive effort as the foundation of their recent success. Clarhaut said, “I think the difference between the first three games to where we are now is our defensive effort. It’s more organized and structural, our box defending is also better.” He also acknowledged that the relationships between all the defensive players on the field of play have improved.

The Locos boss is not paying much mind to the current streak, but simply focusing on what the next task at hand is for his squad. “Our objective each game is to get three points, Birmingham is a good team, they have some of the best individuals in the league in my opinion, its’ about what we do, preparing for Birmingham and not thinking about those things (the current streak) and just getting points away in a tough game.”

Saturday’s match is scheduled for a 5:30pm MST and will be televised nationally via streaming on ESPN+.