San Antonio FC forward Santiago Patino dribbles controls the ball during a match against El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday, August. 15, 2026, at Toyota Field in San Antonio. El Paso shut out SAFC 3-0.
Darren Abate/USL Championship
El Paso Locomotive FC handed a sluggish San Antonio FC squad its worst home loss of the season, beating SAFC 3-0 on Saturday at Toyota Field.
The Locomotive scored all three of their goals in the first half, including two in a five-minute span, as SAFC dropped only its second game in USL Championship league play at home. It was the first home loss in which SAFC lost by three goals and the third time in league play it has been shutout at Toyota Field, with the previous shutouts 0-0 draws to Miami FC and Monterey Bay FC.
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El Paso (9-7-4, 31 points) ended a three-game losing streak against San Antonio (8-4-8, 32 points), reclaiming the Copa Tejas trophy on aggregate goals. The clubs split their matches, with SAFC winning the first game 3-2 in El Paso in April. SAFC won the trophy last year when it swept its intrastate rival, concluding with a 5-2 win in the regular season finale last October.
SAFC midfielder Curt Calov said the team made too many mistakes in the match, which included errant passes, one of which led to an El Paso goal.
“I think the biggest takeaway was just shooting ourselves in the foot,” Calov said. “Couple of mishaps, that was really the telltale tonight.”
The El Paso match ended a busy week for SAFC, which was playing in its third match in eight days, which included a 1-1 draw on the road last week to Louisville City FC and a 2-1 win three days ago against Miami FC in the quarterfinals of Prinx Tires USL Cup, a victory which advanced San Antonio to the cup semifinals.
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San Antonio FC midfielder Curt Calov dribbles the ball during a match against El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday, August. 15, 2026, at Toyota Field in San Antonio. El Paso shut out SAFC 3-0.
Darren Abate/USL Championship
Calov alluded to fatigue as possibly one factor for SAFC’s bad performance at home.
“Definitely uncharacteristic, especially for this team and this defense,” Calov said. “We keep adding shutouts (on defense) and today was an exception. I think you have fatigue — maybe a part of it — but we’re on our home field. We know it’s not acceptable. This is our place to defend, and we have to get results here.”
El Paso scored its first goal off the strong leg of midfielder Alex Mendez, who stunned the home crowd of 7,742 when he launched a shot way outside the penalty box which curved into the right corner of the net in the 20th minute.
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Mendez earned the brace when he scored in the 39th minute, intercepting an errant SAFC pass he converted into a goal. Five minutes later, Bryant Farkarlun tapped in a goal off a crossing pass from Amando Moreno along the end line in the 44th minute. The play started off another intercepted pass by El Paso.
“Really bad first half,” SAFC coach Carlos Llamosa said. “After the second goal, the team went down mentally. We didn’t have a response for that second goal. The best thing that could happen was the referee calling the halftime.”
Despite outshooting El Paso 12-11, including 9-4 in shots on goal, SAFC just couldn’t get the ball in the net. SAFC had two good chances in the second half to get back in the match, including a Santiago Patino shot that missed to the left of the goal and a Nelson Flores Blanco goal which didn’t count because he was called offside.
“Second half, we came back with better energy, tried to control the ball, create chances,” Llamosa said. “We had one or two good chances to come back and score. We missed those. It wasn’t enough.”
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With the loss, SAFC dropped from second to third in the USL Western Conference table, while El Paso leapfrogged from sixth to fourth in the Western standings.
SAFC has a week to rest up before hosting Oakland Roots SC at 8 p.m. Saturday at Toyota Field.