Locomotive FC, Bravos & Bravas All In Action Labor Day Weekend

El Paso Locomotive FC won, FC Juarez lost and FC Juarez Bravas played to a draw. That is how last weekend went for the Borderland’s professional soccer teams. As the football season kicks off here in the states, the soccer season for these three teams is in full swing.

All three teams will play this coming holiday weekend as the FC Juarez and Locos will play at home, while the FC Juarez women will play on the road. Let’s get you update on the latest for each team.

El Paso Locomotive FC

The Locomotive were finally able to break their 10-match winless streak this past weekend in the state of Connecticut when they defeated Hartford Athletic by the score of 2-0. Possibly just as important as the win was the fact that the Locos were able to get the clean sheet as well.

Next to getting the win, one can assume that not allowing the opposition to score probably second on the list of things to accomplish from El Paso as they had allowed a total of 25 goals in their last 10 matches.

The Locos defensive effort on the east coast this past weekend is what head coach and technical director Brian Clarhaut felt was the biggest difference in Saturday’s performance compared to their previous ten matches before that.

Clarhaut said, “I think we defended well. That was the difference. We were able to finish chances, get box entries and defended well. It reminded me of a performance that we had previously, earlier in the year when we had those runs, defending well and were comfortable without the ball.”

The Locos will try to make it two wins a row this Saturday when they host Monterey Bay FC at Southwest University Park. These two teams played to a scoreless draw in northern California back in July.

Both teams are in desperate need of the 3 points that come with a win. For the Locomotive, they want to solidify their position a little more in the standings table to be sure they get a playoff spot.

As for Monterey, they want to get in the playoff zone. Currently the Locos occupy that final position, eighth place.

FC Juarez

Bravos de FC Juarez will look to continue their surprising early season run as they will host Mazatlan FC Friday night in week seven of the Liga BBVA MX 2023 apertura season. The Bravos are coming off of their first defeat this season when they lost to last place Puebla by the score of 1-0.

The defeat was extra sour as the VAR annulled a legitimate goal for Juarez late in the second half. That call was the biggest controversial moment of week 6 with the national media raining down a storm of criticism on the referee committee over this past week.

Still, the team from the Borderland finds itself in third place in the standings table and will be looking to remain in the top part of the general standings table when they face a team in Mazatlan that has only won one match all season long.

However, Puebla was in last place last weekend when they hosted Bravos and got the win. This weekend, playing at home, the pressure will be on Juarez to get the win.

Friday night’s match will be televised nationally on three networks in the U.S. You can watch the match on Fox Sports 2 in English or on Fox Deportes or via streaming on VIX+ in spanish. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST.

FC Juarez Bravas

The FC Juarez women, the Bravas, played to a 1-1 draw last Friday at home to Pachuca. This was the second draw in a row for the women who have been heavily hindered by injury in this season’s early going.

With every passing week the team’s cohesion is growing as the new acquisitions are getting used to the system, and getting acclimated to all the aspects of being in the Borderland. The players that have been out are slowly starting to return from injury as the Bravas are looking for improvements that lead to wins with every passing week.

They will have a tall order this Sunday as they will travel to that state of Jalisco to face Chivas de Guadalajara. The Chivas are undefeated this season winning five match and playing to three draws. They are currently in third place in the standings table with a total of 18 points.

The Bravas are currently in 13th place with seven points as a result of one win, four draws and two defeats.

Sunday’s match is scheduled for a noon MST kickoff.