Locomotive FC fall to Union Omaha, 2-0, in second round of U.S. Open Cup

(Courtesy: El Paso Locomotive FC)

OMAHA, Nebraska - El Paso Locomotive FC exited the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the second round following a 2-0 defeat to USL League One side Union Omaha at Morrison Stadium on Wednesday night.

Locomotive started off well to begin the match, bringing the ball into the opposition’s half and applying pressure on Omaha’s backline.

However, Omaha would find its footing and begin to turn things around for themselves as the match progressed.

After an evenly contested first half, The Owls recorded the first goal of the match in the 58th minute off a rebounded effort.

A header inside the box would double Omaha’s lead over El Paso in the 75th minute.

Head Coach and Technical Director Brian Clarhaut would make several changes throughout the second half in order to pull out a result.

Amongst those changes were defender Finnley O’Brien and midfielder Luis “Lalito” Moreno, both making their official Locomotive debuts. O’Brien, 16, signed with Locomotive under a USL Academy contract last month, whereas Moreno, 17, joined the club in late February as the club’s youngest ever signing.

Unfortunately, El Paso’s attempts at goal were unable to find the net and Locomotive remain without a win in the storied tournament, now 0-3-0 against USL1 teams.

All focus for Clarhaut and Los Locos will now shift to Saturday, April 8 when El Paso welcome Orange County SC at Southwest University Park for the return of USL Championship league play.

TEAM NOTES

· Four Locomotive players made their official club debuts tonight: goalkeeper Javier Garcia, defender Erik McCue, defender Finnley O’Brien, and midfielder Luis Moreno.

· Defender Artem Kholod made his 2023 debut with his appearance in the match.

· Four players recorded their first starts of 2023 and played the full match: goalkeeper Javier Garcia, defender Erik McCue, midfielder Louis Herrera and midfielder Diego Abarca.

SCORING SUMMARY

· OMA 1 – Junior Palacios (Steevan Dos Santos), 58’

· OMA 2 – Steevan Dos Santos (Joe Brito), 75’

LINEUPS

ELP – Javier Garcia, Erik McCue, Yuma – C (Finnley O’Brien), Nick Hinds, Miles Lyons (Artem Kholod), Louis Herrera, Liam Rose (Luis Moreno), Petar Petrovic (Chris Garcia, Eder Borelli), Diego Abarca, Emmanuel Sonupe, Aaron Gomez (Ricardo Zacarias)

Subs Not Used: Benny Diaz

OMA – Rashid Nuhu, Stefan Mueller, Alexis Souahy, Junior Palacios, Shaft Brewer Jr., JP Scearce, Conor Doyle – C, Luis Gil (Pedro Dolabella), Joe Gallardo (Joe Brito), Steevan Dos Santos (Chavany Willis), Noe Meza (Alex Steinwascher)

Subs Not Used: Ian McGrane, Luca Mastrantonio, Marco Milanese,

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

· ELP – Aaron Gomez (Yellow Card) 22’, Louis Herrera (Yellow Card) 48’, Ricardo Zacarias (Yellow Card) 72’, Eder Borelli (Yellow Card) 83’

· OMA – Joe Gallardo (Yellow Card) 11’, Stefan Mueller (Yellow Card) 87’