Locomotive FC fall 4-1 to Rio Grande FC Toros in regular season finale
(Courtesy: El Paso Locomotive FC)
EDINBURG, Texas - Locomotive FC (18-4-10, 64 points) fell for only the fourth time in the 2021 USL Championship regular season with a 1-4 scoreline against Rio Grande Valley FC.
Midfielder Chapa Herrera scored his first of the lone Locomotive goal. The result means Locomotive finishes second in the Western Conference, just behind Phoenix Rising FC.
Rio Grande Valley FC got off to a start that set the tempo of the game, converting a penalty in the seventh minute that just got past goalkeeper Logan Ketterer.
Locomotive fought for an equalizer, ultimately finding one through Forward Leandro Carrijo, who rounded RGV goalkeeper Tyler Deric to get to the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed due to offside. While Locomotive aimed to make one count, RGVFC doubled the lead just before the halftime whistle, with Kyle Edwards finding his first of the night.
Locomotive put themselves back into the fight earning the first second-half goal with a decisive play between midfielder Diego Luna and Herrera, who took the one-touch to get past the RGV goalkeeper.
Despite pulling one back on the scoreboard, RGV took in the second half, as Edwards earned his second of the night.
El Paso Locomotive was put on the backfoot throughout the remainder of the match, as RGV never let off the gas, finding the nail in the coffin in the 79th minute with Emilio Ycaza earning the fourth Toros goal to contribute to the scoring.
UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive kicks off its Track to the Trophy with a home match for the Western Conference Quarterfinal at Southwest University Park. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT on Friday, November 6.
Tickets are available at www.eplocomotivefc.com/tickets, by phone at 915-235-GOAL, or through the official El Paso Locomotive App. The opponent is to be determined between Oakland Roots and LA Galaxy II
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN
RGV: Rodrigo Lopez (Penalty), 7th minute: After being brought down in the box by a late tackle from Carrijo prompted the referee to point to the spot. Lopez stepped up, taking the kick well to the left. While Logan Ketterer guessed the direction correctly, it wasn’t enough to put a stop to the ball and provided RGV with an early lead.
RGV: Kyle Edwards, 49th minute: In stoppage time of the first half, a strong pass forward ended with just a miss-timed clearance from the Locomotive backline, opening up Edwards to take a shot towards goal that ended in the back of the net.
ELP: Chapa Herrera (Diego Luna), 52nd minute: In a decisive play, Luna played a through ball forward that both Leandro Carrijo and Herrera got to the end of. Herrera ultimately took the shot, ending in the back of the net to breathe some life into the Locomotive game.
RGV: Kyle Edwards (Juan Azocar), 59th minute: Down the right-hand side, Azocar was able to break past the Locomotive defense, putting a ball in forward which Edwards broke past to get to. With one touch, Edwards put the goal into the back of the net to further the Rio Grande Valley lead.
RGV: Emilio Ycaza, 79th minute: In a 50/50 duel, Ycaza got the better of the El Paso Locomotive FC defense, creating a one-on-one situation with Logan Ketterer. Ycaza took the shot quickly finding the bottom corner of the near post to put the nail in the coffin for the night.
