Locos Defeat Unbeaten San Antonio FC 3-2

In one of the most entertaining matches of the entire season, El Paso Locomotive FC defeated San Antonio FC by the score of 2-1 Saturday night at Southwest University Park. The Locos were able to win against a San Antonio side that was previously unbeaten in 11 matches. The win keeps the Locomotive two points behind New Mexico United in Group C of the USL Championship with 21 points.

The match was an intense, offensively oriented match for 90 minutes. Both sides created plenty of chances on goal in the first half. In the 38th minute Aaron Gomez would take an elbow to the face in the San Antonio goalbox for the easy penalty kick call by center referee. Gomez would take the PK himself and get it past San Antonio goalkeeper Matt Cardone, going to his lower left with the shot at the 40 minute mark.

The lead would last less than 5 minutes as a penalty kick would be call in San Antonio’s favor in the 43rd minute. El Paso defender Andrew Fox supposedly brought down a player for the visiting side in the goalbox. Luis Solignac would convert the PK getting it past Locos goalkeeper Logan Ketterer.

The second half would see more of the same offensively oriented execution by both teams. The Locomotive would have the first real threat on goal in the complimentary half in the first 4 minutes. Both teams would go through moments when they would dominate but failed to put the ball in the back of the net.

It would not be until stoppage time when on a free kick by the team from the 915 would get the match winner on an own goal. The ball centered by Dylan Mares would go off the head of San Antonio’s Mitchell Taintor when he tried to clear the ball. The ball instead would find the back of the net.

"Now it is a case of turning those good performances, those competitive games, into wins against the better teams like New Mexico, San Antonio and Phoenix," Locomotive FC head coach and technical director Mark Lowry said after the match. "We consider ourselves in that group and we want to elevate ourselves past that group and to do that you have to beat those teams. The last two weeks have shown we are capable of doing that."

The win extends the Locomotive’s undefeated streak to six games. In that span, the Locos have won 4 matches and had 2 draws.

Up next will be a quick turnaround for El Paso as they will host the Colorado Switchback on Wednesday night in a match that is schedule to kickoff at 7pm. The match will be open to 1,519 fans and be televised on ESPN+.