Two late first half goals jump started San Antonio FC as it advanced to the quarterfinals of the Prinx Tires USL Cup with a 2-0 win over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC on Saturday at Toyota Field.
Courtesy of SAFC
San Antonio FC’s fast start in USL Championship play is anchored by its strong play against some of the top teams in the league. Its few struggles have come from the bottom of the table.
SAFC (6-2-7, 25 points), second in the USL Western Conference standings, hopes to avoid another letdown against Las Vegas Lights FC (4-7-3, 15 points). The Lights are next to last in the West as the two teams kick off at 8 p.m. Saturday at Toyota Field.
Article continues below this ad
The match caps a three-game homestand for SAFC, which is 1-0-1 in the first two contests, including a 2-0 win over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC on July 11 in the final match of group play for the USL Cup. San Antonio clinched one of eight spots in the knockout rounds with Miami FC looming in the cup quarterfinals next month.
Beating Chattanooga to advance to the USL Cup knockout stage certainly uplifted the spirits of SAFC, which came after a disappointing 0-0 draw against the West’s bottom team, Monterey Bay FC, on July 4.
“The mood has been good,” SAFC coach Carlos Llamosa said. “The team looks positive, they look good. They’re looking forward to this Saturday. Hopefully, we can perform well and get the three points.”
SAFC took advantage of two late first-half goals from Santiago Patino and Curt Calov to finish off Chattanooga.
Article continues below this ad
San Antonio was fortunate to salvage the draw against Monterey as two of its players, goalkeeper Joey Batrouni and defender/team captain Mitchell Taintor, were ejected because of red cards. It was the second time this season SAFC and Monterey played to a 0-0 draw, the first occurring on Monterey’s home pitch in April.
Monterey isn’t the only last-place club in the league that has given SAFC trouble. In late May on the road, San Antonio had to settle for a 4-4 draw against Sporting Jacksonville — the last place club in the Eastern Conference — after SAFC rebounded from a 3-0 halftime deficit.
SAFC defender Nelson Flores Blanco said he isn’t taking anything for granted in the match against Las Vegas.
“No team in this league is easy,” Flores Blanco said. “So, we’re definitely not going in cocky. We’re going in, obviously, with confidence. But, if you know anything about this league, you should take no team lightly and we’re working on a lot of things to exploit those weaknesses (of Las Vegas) and obviously things that will strengthen us in the defensive end as well.”
The Lights have scored 21 goals in league play, with forward Johnny Rodriguez scoring nine of those, tied for third most in USL Championship play. Las Vegas has struggled on defense, conceding 25 goals for a goal differential of minus-4, and doesn’t have a clean sheet in league play so far.
While Las Vegas has lost three of its four previous matches across all competitions, all three defeats were by one goal.
Article continues below this ad
“They don’t get the final result, but overall, they play good matches,” Llamosa said. “They have quality forwards, midfielders. So, we have to be worried about the whole team, not a specific player. When they put the ball on the ground, they play well. It’s going to be about us, not about them, to be honest.”
SAFC counters with a balanced scoring attack led by midfielders Jorge Hernandez and Dmitrii Erofeev, who each have five goals, defender Alex Crognale with four and forward Christian Sorto, three. Defensively, San Antonio has nine clean sheets across all USL competitions this season, with Batrouni collecting 38 saves in USL regular season play, seventh most in the league.
Batrouni said SAFC needs to find a way to exploit weaknesses in the Las Vegas defense early on.
“They don’t get a lot of clean sheets,” Batrouni said. “So, we got to take advantage, and I think put some (goals) away early and make it an easy win for us at home.”
Article continues below this ad
Despite getting the red card in the match against Monterey two weeks ago, Batrouni will be available Saturday against Las Vegas after SAFC appealed the ejection to the league. The USL overturned the red card against Batrouni last week.
Taintor, in his seventh season with San Antonio, will not be able to play against Las Vegas because of his red card. But SAFC has a deep defensive center backfield, which includes Tiago Suarez, Alexis Souahy, Crognale and Danny Barbir.
“We’re going to miss Mitch (Taintor), but we have four center backs that can perform on Saturday as well,” Llamosa said.
Article continues below this ad
Flores Blanco said the club has the next man up mentality when it comes to Taintor’s absence.
“Obviously, Mitch has been a great leader,” Flores Blanco said. “He’s been here for a long time. But he knows and we know it’s the next man up. Anyone can step up and play the part that the team needs. So, obviously it’s going to be a bummer not having him, but next man up.”