El Paso Locomotive FC defeat San Antonio FC to advance to Western Conference semifinals

EL PASO, Texas - El Paso Locomotive FC defeated San Antonio FC 2-1 on Friday night to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. The Locos will now await the winner of the matchup between Sacramento Republic FC and FC Tulsa.

Rubio Rubín opened the scoring for Locomotive in the 14th minute, finishing off a cross from Beto Avila that found its way through the box.

Rubín made his presence felt defensively as well, clearing a San Antonio attempt just inches from the goal line to preserve Locomotive’s 1-0 advantage heading into halftime.

Tony Alfaro doubled the Locos’ lead just minutes into the second half, rising to head home a perfectly lofted cross from Robert Coronado.

San Antonio cut the deficit in half late in the match, but the visitors were unable to find an equalizer as Locomotive held firm defensively to secure the 2-1 victory and book its place in the Western Conference Semifinals.

ELP 2, SA 1
Southwest University Park
Attendance: 4078
Weather: 74 degrees and cloudy

MATCH NOTES

• Tonight’s victory marks Locomotive’s first playoff win since October 17, 2020, when El Paso defeated New Mexico United in PKs at Southwest University Park.
• Friday’s match marked the first-ever postseason meeting between El Paso Locomotive FC and San Antonio FC.
• El Paso will have to wait until Sunday to learn its opponent for the Western Conference Semifinals. Should No. 2 seed Sacramento Republic FC advance, Locomotive will travel to Sacramento next weekend. If FC Tulsa comes away with the win, the Locos will return to Southwest University Park to host the Semifinal matchup.

SCORING SUMMARY

• ELP – 14’ Rubio Rubín (Beto Avila), 54’ Tony Alfaro (Robert Coronado)
• SA –  84’ Diogo Pacheco (Luis Paredes)

LINEUPS             

ELP – (3-4-3) Abraham Romero, Tony Alfaro, Palermo Ortiz, Kofi Twumasi (45’ Noah Dollenmayer), Ricky Ruiz (45’ Gabi Torres), Eric Calvillo, Robert Coronado, Alvaro Quezada (85’ Omar Mora), Rubio Rubín, Beto Avila (66’ Amando Moreno), Alex Méndez (82’ Daniel Gomez)

Subs Not Used: Carl Sainté, Kenneth Hoban, Trace Alphin

SA – (5-4-1) Joseph Batrouni, Mitchell Taintor, Santiago Suarez, Alex Crognale, Nelson Flores, Akeem Ward, Emil Cuello, Curt Calov, Lucio Berron, Cristian Parano, Santiago Patino

Subs Not Used: Richard Sanchez, Daniel Barbir, Rece Buckmaster

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

• ELP –  20’ Kofi Twumasi, 34’ Palermo Ortiz, 44’ Ricky Ruiz, 45’ Beto Avila, 74’ Tony Alfaro, 88’ Noah Dollenmayer, 90+2’ Robert Coronado
• SA – 30’ Santiago Patino, 37’ Lucio Berron, 65’ Alex Crognale, 90+4’

MATCH STATS: ELP | SA

GOALS: 2|1
ASSISTS: 2|1
POSSESSION: 41|59
SHOTS: 10|14
SHOTS ON GOAL: 3|7
SAVES: 6|1
FOULS: 16|16
OFFSIDES: 2|3
CORNERS: 4|8