Locomotive FC Cruise 4-0 and Bravos Come Back To Tie

El Paso Locomotive FC ended their regular season with an emphatic statement that they will be contenders in the 2020 USL Championship playoffs. The Locos defeated Real Monarchs 4-0 in the state of Utah early Sunday afternoon to finish their regular season. As a result, El Paso locked up first place in group C and will now host FC Tulsa Saturday night at Southwest University Park in the first round of the playoffs.

Sunday’s match for the Monarchs could be considered a snowball performance as the Locos took over the match completely as the match progressed.

The Locos got on the scoreboard quickly, in the 8th minute, as Dylan Mares took a right footed strike, on the run from outside the box, on a pass from Macca King that found the lower right corner of the net.

Toward the end of the first half the home team tried to resurge, creating legitimate chances but could not put the ball in the back of the net.

The complimentary half would be all Locos. Aaron Gomez would score in the 68th minute. After a series of deflections, the ball would find its way to him and his right footed strike would find the back of the net.

Saeed Robinson would get the final two goals of the afternoon when he would come on for Leandro Carrijo in the 71st minute.

Those two goals were important as the Locos capitalized on the circumstance that their rival left themselves a little more susceptible defensively in order to attempt a comeback. El Paso was able to score and extend their lead which is something head coach Mark Lowry has wanted for some time, if the opportunity to win by 3 or 4 goals is there, take it.
The team from the “915” will take an 11 match unbeaten streak into the playoff against at team who obtained 25 points over the regular season as a result of 6 wins, 7 draws and 2 loses. The match is expected to sell out but will be televised locally on the CW and nationally on ESPN+.

On Sunday afternoon Bravos de FC Juarez was able to pull off a 1-1 draw against Pachuca at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium. The draw currently put the Bravos in the final position of the playoff zone, 12th place in the standings table with 4 matches left in the regular season.

The first half was one to be forgotten for Juarez. They created no real threats on goal and just looked flat in every aspect of team execution. They would fall behind in the score in the 35th minute when Victor Guzman would receive a ball on the run on the left side of the Bravos goalbox and take a left footed strike that would find the opposite side of the lower corner of the goal.

The key for FC Juarez getting the draw in the second half would be the two double substitutions done by Bravos head coach Gabriel Caballero. Luis Hernandez would come on for Yoshimar Acosta at the start of the second half, along with Falvio Santos for Martin Rabunal. Ten minutes later Mauro Fernandez would come on for Blas Armoa and Eryc Castillo would come on for William Medieta.

These substitutions would flip the switch for FC Juarez. Seven minutes later Erick Castillo would score on a right footed strike after shaking off two defenders on the left side of Pachuca’s goalbox.

For the final 20 minutes of the match, FC Juarez took over and mounted more threats on goal than the opposition and was closer to winning the match than Pachuca was.

The difference in this one was simple, summed up nicely by Gabriel Caballero at the end of the match, he said, "We gave away 45 minutes today…".

The team from the Borderland will now have 2 weeks to prepare for their next match as Liga BBVA will be off next weekend. When play resumes the Bravos will face Mazatlan in the state of Sinaloa. That match is scheduled for Friday October 16th at 830 pm MST.