The dominance continues; Locomotive FC shutout Austin Bold FC, 3-0
(Courtesy: El Paso Locomotive FC)
EL PASO, Texas - The Locomotive FC (11-1-4, 37 points) ended Austin Bold FC’s road-game streak with a 3-0 win at Southwest University Park on Saturday.
Defender Andrew Fox scored his first goal of the season while midfielder Dylan Mares and forward Leandro Carrijo added to their goal tallies to contribute to the win.
Goalkeeper Logan Ketterer recorded two saves and paired with his backline to earn a second-straight clean sheet.
“We took these two weeks and compartmentalized it,” said head coach Mark Lowry. “Five games in 14 days is kind of a mini-season. Let’s win all of these games, focus on and manage this squad for these five games. Up to today, it was three wins and a tie so it’s been good. Don’t lose tonight and ruin the work we’ve done over the last 10 days. Let’s finish the job. That was the message in the locker room. Get a win, get a good performance, entertain the fans, finish the job so we can feel good about our work over these last two weeks.”
The Locos Blue dominated the first half, controlling possession and using it to find a staggering eleven shots towards goal, however, none were able to find the back of the net.
Midfielder Chapa Herrera along with forwards Aaron Gomez and Lucho Solignac peppered the goal with shots forcing Bold FC goalkeeper Elliot Panicco into a multitude of saves.
Austin Bold FC was able to get in a few shots of their own, but defender Mechack Jerome kept them out of the net with some heroics within the 6-yard line.
Locomotive once again continued its trend of rocketing out of the locker room in the second half.
As the game opened up, goals began pouring in for El Paso.
In the 59th minute, Fox broke the deadlock, heading away a rocket of a shot to provide Locomotive with the advantage.
Mares doubled the scoring in the 72nd minute, taking a freekick that beautifully curved into the side netting at an angle where Panicco could do nothing to stop it.
Finally, in stoppage time of the second half, Carrijo’s passing play with midfielder Diego Luna opened up the Brazilian striker to take one quick shot low and into the far post to make it 3-0 Locomotive.
Combined with two saves from Ketterer, El Paso Locomotive earned its second straight clean sheet to pick up the full three points at Southwest University Park.
UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive gets a moment of respite before it plays again, taking a full week before playing New Mexico United on Saturday, August 14.
The match will be played in Albuquerque, New Mexico at Isotopes Park where kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live digitally on ESPN+.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN
ELP: Andrew Fox (Nick Ross), 59th minute: Off a corner kick opportunity, Ross sent the ball in perfectly to the spot in the penalty area. Fox made his run towards goal, making the jump to meet the ball with his head, putting power and velocity in behind the ball to whip it into the goal to open the scoring for the night.
ELP: Dylan Mares, 72nd minute: After earning a freekick opportunity, Dylan Mares stepped up to the plate to take the kick. Mares took the shot, curving it beautifully just out of the reach of Austin Bold goalkeeper Elliot Panicco, in what is a textbook freekick. The ball found the side netting to double the lead.
ELP: Leandro Carrijo (Diego Luna), 93rd minute: Getting the ball just outside the 18-yard line, Luna effectively eliminated the defenders by playing a passing game with Carrijo. Luna made the high pass to Carrijo, who chested the ball back down into the path of Luna. Luna quickly took one touch to pass back to Carrijo now in a wide-open area. Carrijo closed out the stunning run of play by taking one quick touch before firing the shot low and to the far post for a world-class goal for a three-goal win.
