Locomotive FC drop heartbreaker at Austin FC in U.S. Open Cup, 3-2

AUSTIN, Texas - A seven-minute second half flurry would come back to haunt El Paso Locomotive FC as they fell to the hands of Austin FC 3-2 on Wednesday night at Q2 Stadium in the Round of 32 of the U.S. Open Cup.

Beto Avila bagged a first-half brace which put Locomotive up 2-0 at the break.

Ultimately, however, a few key substitutions from the hosts made the difference in the end as Los Locos’ memorable U.S. Open Cup run comes to a close.

Both teams created chances in the early going with possession nearly equaling out in the first half. Locomotive would break through in the 20^th minute as Amando Moreno found a cutting Avila who slotted the ball into the back of the net to put El Paso ahead.

The lead was then doubled 14 minutes later as Avila capitalized off an Austin turnover to make it 2-0 for the visitors.

Austin FC woke from their slumber in the second half, however, and created numerous scoring opportunities that were dealt with by Jahmali Waite who finished the night with seven saves.

The hosts then hit El Paso with a three-piece, scoring in the 73^rd, 76^th and 80^th minutes to take the lead and finish things off.

GAME NOTES

• Beto Avila scored the second Locomotive brace in the U.S. Open Cup, the first being Bryan Romero back in the First Round against Harpos FC.
• This match marked Locomotive’s first match against an MLS opponent in an official competition.

FORECAST: 77ºF, sunny                                                                       

SCORING SUMMARY

• ELP – Beto Avila 20’ (Amando Moreno), 34’
• ATX – Brandon Vazquez 73’ (Owen Wolff), 80’ (Wolff), Myrto Uzuni 76’ (Vazquez)

LINEUPS 

ELP – (4-3-3) Jahmali Waite, Ricky Ruiz, Wahab Ackwei, Arturo Ortiz-C, Robert Coronado 81’), Gabi Torres (Memo Diaz 81’), Frank Daroma, Eric Calvillo, Beto Avila, Amando Moreno (Daniel Carter 81’), Beto Avila (Tumi Moshobane 70’), Andy Cabrera (Frank Lopez 85’)

Subs Not Used: Sebastian Mora Mora, Tony Alfaro

ATX – (4-3-3) Stefan Cleveland, Jon Gallagher, Julio Cascante, Brendan Hines-Ike-C, Žan Kolmanič (Guilherme Biro 62’), Nico Dubersarsky (Ilie Sanchez 60’), Besard Sabovic (Owen Wolff 60’), Diego Rubio (Robert Taylor 45’), Jáder Obrian (Osman Bukari 45’), Brandon Vazquez, Myrto Uzuni

Subs Not Used: Brad Stuver, Oleksandr Svatok

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

• ELP – Amando Moreno (Yellow) 5’
• ATX – Jáder Obrian (Yellow) 19’, Owen Wolff (Yellow) 88’

MATCH STATS: ELP | ATX

GOALS: 2|3
ASSISTS: 1|3
POSSESSION: 54|46
SHOTS: 18|21
SHOTS ON GOAL: 7|10
SAVES: 5|7
FOULS: 15|10
OFFSIDES: 2|3
CORNERS: 7|5

UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive FC head north from Austin for a USL Championship clash at FC Tulsa on Saturday, May 10 at 6 p.m. MT at ONEOK Field. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.