El Paso Locomotive FC embarrassed at home against lower-tier team

El Paso Locomotive FC suffered an embarrasing defeat at home Wednesday night against a team from a lower division.

Forward Madison FC came into Southwest University Park and crushed the Locomotive, 3-0.

And it could have been even worse.

The Locomotive were playing their first game in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which groups teams from different divisions in the same tournament.

The Locomotive play in the USL Championship, considered to be just a step below Major League Soccer in the soccer hierarchy in the United States.

Madison plays in USL League One, which is a step below the USL Championship.

Jiro Barriga Toyoma kicked off the scoring for Madison in the 19th minute to stun the Locomotive.

But the Flamingos were not done yet. They added a second goal a few minutes later courtesy of Christian Diaz and would take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The second half was rather chippy as tempers began to flare and the frustration mounted for the Locomotive.

Madison’s Jeff Michaud tacked on a third goal in the 76th minute to effectively seal the win and secure Madison’s spot in the next round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The Locomotive could potentially blame a tough schedule for their sluggish performance. They just played a regular season game against New Mexico United on Sunday, drawing that contest 2-2. They also have a match Saturday at home against Sacramento Republic FC, so the mid-week clash with Madison was certainly a test of the team’s depth.