Going off the rails? El Paso Locomotive lose fourth game in a row as playoff chances begin to dwindle

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso Locomotive lose 1-0 at the death to Monterey Bay FC to mark their fourth loss in a row.

The game for the most part was the Locos to win. According to the ESPN+ broadcast they had 68% of the ball and 12 shots with 2 of them on target - that's double Monterey Bays opportunities.

While the Locos had control of the game they weren't able to convert on any of their chances. The biggest opportunity coming right before the half when Yuma was tackled inside the box - Lucho Solignac with the potential to convert a PK but his attempt going over the crossbar.

Then in the 86th minute Evan Newton blocked a cross from Monterey but it goes straight to the feet of Adrian Rebollar who makes no mistake with the finish to give Monterey Bay a goal. That would ultimately be the match winner.

Within the Locos four consecutive losses they haven't scored one goal and in their last three games they've lost by just one goal which has come in the second half of all three matches.

There's no doubt the Locos are going off the rails, the question now is can they get back on track? And if they do, will it be too late?

Saturday's loss sees them fall to seventh in the Western Conference Standings, only the top seven teams go through to the playoffs.

The Locomotive have just nine regular season games left but every single other team in the West has more which basically means in order to make the playoffs they need to go on a stellar run and they need the teams around them to drop a few games.

It's now or never for the Locos, but things don't get any easier from here. On Friday they play at Colorado Springs, one of the top teams in the West.