Locomotive opens season on the road with a draw against Orange County FC

ORANGE COUNTY, California – El Paso Locomotive FC kicked off its sophomore season in USL Championship, playing to a scoreless draw against Orange County SC on the road this weekend.

“I thought we could’ve been better on the ball particularly in their half of the field,” said Locomotive head coach Mark Lowry. “We turned it over a little bit too much but I think that’s part of the first game of the season, there’s a little bit of nerves there’s rustyness, you know these are things that will easily kind of work themselves out after 4 or 5 games, but I thought all in all we deserve the point. We created good chances they had a couple of good chances, so I thought it was a good game of football”.

The pendulum swung through the first half with Locomotive FC and OCSC trading possession and chances for shots towards goal.

El Paso was able to find the back of the net in the 21st minute through midfielder Nick Ross, but the goal was called back as the assistant ref raised his flag for offsides.

The Locos turned up the heat in the second half, applying consistent pressure in the final third that led to a strong chance from forward Marios Lomis through a pivoting shot in close range that squared the OC goalkeeper.

Locomotive FC held the attacking pressure through the final moments, however Orange County had the answers to keep the scoreline level, leaving the two sides to split the points in the 2020 Regular-Season Opener.

El Paso Locomotive FC will have its home opener at Southwest University Park against Portland Timbers 2 next Saturday. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.