El Paso Locomotive (11-1-5, 38 points) stole the point on the road from New Mexico United on Saturday night. Defender Matt Bahner netted his first goal of the season to silence the crowd at Isotopes Park.
“It feels good not to lose,” said Head Coach Mark Lowry. “We didn’t win. I’m disappointed that we didn’t win. The first half was not great and in the second half, we were unbelievable. We deserved the point. We hit the post twice. We did everything we could, but we didn’t win so I’m not super ecstatic but it feels like a win with the way it happened.”
Los Locos nearly got off to a dream start, finding the back of the net through Forward Lucho Solignac’s second-minute header that was ultimately flagged offside. From then, United ran away with the ball, testing the Locomotive defense. Defender Yuma came up big to close out United’s Amando Moreno from scoring early in the first half. While Midfielder Dylan Mares was able to get a few quality chances, it would be Moreno that broke the scoreless deadlock with a goal in the 33rd minute.
The second half was night and day from the first as Locomotive dominated the possession and tempo of the game. Tension started building as both teams began to get frustrated by either the lack of possession or the ball bouncing off the post. Tensions peaked in the 77th minute, seeing United earn multiple yellows but saw Midfielder Diego Luna earn a red card leaving Locomotive down a man for the remainder of the match. Not to be counted out, Locomotive battled the remaining 13 minutes plus six in stoppage time, finding the equalizer in the 97th minute courtesy of Goalkeeper Logan Ketterer‘s shot that deflected to Bahner for his first goal of the season.
UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive returns home to Southwest University Park to welcome Rio Grande Valley FC. That match is scheduled for Saturday, August 21 with a 7:30 p.m. MT kickoff. Tickets are available online at https://sportsengine-staging.go-vip.net/eplocomotivefc/tickets or by calling 915-235-GOAL
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN
NM: Amando Moreno (Sergio Rivas), 33rd minute: Off a long pass from Rivas, Moreno let the ball roll, taking a twist at the top of the box to get behind it. Moreno pushed the ball forward, taking the shot low, getting it through Logan Ketterer and in for the opening goal of the night.
ELP: Matt Bahner, 97th minute: In the last corner kick of the game, Richie Ryan served in the cross that led to pandemonium in the box. Logan Ketterer took a shot that deflected off a United defender and into the path of Bahner, who slotted home the stoppage-time equalizer to steal a point from Isotopes Park.
NOTES:
– Defender Matt Bahner scored his first goal of the season, putting away a stoppage stunner to equalize the game.
– El Paso Locomotive moves to nine unbeaten since its 3-2 loss to Rio Grande Valley FC.
– Paired with results around the table, Locomotive pulled further ahead at the top of the Mountain Division, now with a 10 point lead over second-place rivals, Switchbacks FC and Rio Grande Valley FC
Match: El Paso Locomotive at New Mexico United
Date: August 14, 2021
Venue: Isotopes Park; Albuquerque, New Mexico
Weather: 81F and mostly sunny
Scoring Summary 1 2 F
El Paso Locomotive FC 0 1 1
New Mexico United 1 0 1
NM – Amando Moreno (Sergio Rivas), 33’
ELP – Matt Bahner, 90’+7
Lineups:
El Paso Locomotive FC (4-4-2): Logan Ketterer; Eder Borelli (Andrew Fox, 60’), Yuma, Mechack Jerome, Macca King (Matt Bahner, 84’), Richie Ryan, Bryam Rebellon (Diego Luna, 60’), Nick Ross (Leandro Carrijo, 84’), Sebastian Velasquez, Lucho Solignac, Dylan Mares (Aaron Gomez, 73’)
Subs not used: Ben Beaury, Chapa Herrera,
New Mexico United (3-4-3): Alex Tambakis; Rashid Tetteh (Micheal Azira, 89’), Austin Yearwood, Justin Schmidt, David Najem (Daniel Bruce, 63’), Josh Suggs, Juan Guzmán, Andrew Tinari, Amando Moreno (Harry Swartz, 68’), Sergio Rivas, Devon Sandoval
Subs not used: Alex Touche, Isidro Martinez, Philipp Beigl, Ilija Ilic
Stats Summary: ELP | NM
Shots: 16 | 8
Shots on Goal: 4 | 3
Saves: 2 | 3
Corner Kicks: 5 | 5
Fouls: 5 | 11
Offside: 2 | 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
NM – Amando Moreno (Caution), 64’
NM – Devon Sandoval (Caution), 75’
ELP – Diego Luna (Ejection), 77’
NM – Andrew Tinari (Caution), 77’
NM – Daniel Bruce (Caution), 78’
ELP – Leandro Carrijo (Caution), 79’