MONTEREY BAY BEGINS 2024 USL CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN IN EL PASO
EL PASO, Texas (Tuesday, March 12, 2024) – Monterey Bay F.C. (0-0-0, 0 points) officially embarks on its much-anticipated 2024 campaign with a midweek visit to the state of Texas for a 6 p.m. PT kickoff on Wednesday, March 13 against El Paso Locomotive FC (0-1-0, 0 points) at Southwest University Park in Week 2 of the 2024 USL Championship regular season. Live streaming of the match will be available on ESPN+ or listen live on SiriusXM FC Channel 157.
Monterey Bay begins its third campaign in USL Championship with a midweek road match against former-MBFC midfielder Arun Basuljevic and his Locomotive FC side in El Paso on Wednesday night and will debut a fairly new-look squad. After falling short of the playoffs in each of the Club’s first two seasons in existence, the Crisp-and-Kelp utilized its third-ever offseason as an opportunity to refresh the roster heading into 2024.
Tristan Trager, a 24-year-old who is expected to play the majority of his minutes as a second forward for Monterey Bay this season, will look to combine his finishing skill, instinctual play, and impressive speed to elevate the overall attack for the Crisp-and-Kelp. Also complementing Monterey Bay’s new-look attack is 24-year-old striker Luther Archimède. The Guadeloupe international aims to impose his size, speed, and engine as the feature at the top of the formation. MBFC also added a new face on the back line, as Carlos Guzmán brings a wealth of Liga MX experience and a calming presence to the defensive side of the formation this season.
“Our group this year has been more together than it’s ever been,” said defender Morey Doner. “We have a really good group of guys, and we are feeling like a family. Going into this match against El Paso, we just need to make sure we build on the preseason. For me in particular, I want to get back to playing at my best with the team. We have a couple of injuries right now, but we are feeling confident. We are going to stick together, not get out of sync, not overthink anything, and just play football. At the end of the day, it’s what we’re paid to do and it’s the game we love. We just want to get back in the swing of things, get our routine going and enjoy tomorrow.”
In the previous match between the two sides last September, Monterey Bay F.C. bested Locomotive FC with a 2-1 win on the road behind a late goal to stun El Paso and tip the all-time head-to-head record in the Union’s favor at 2-1-1. Overall, the sides are split with a win apiece at Southwest University Park in El Paso, with Locomotive FC’s lone win taking place during the Union’s seven-match road trip that kicked off the Club’s inaugural season.
El Paso Locomotive FC vs. Monterey Bay F.C.
Southwest University Park; El Paso, Texas
Wednesday, March 13, 2024; 6:00 p.m. PT
Access Match Notes
The Adobe PDF version of the 2024 Match Guide in advance of Wednesday’s contest between Monterey Bay F.C. and El Paso Locomotive FC can be found here. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact Steven Vargo in MBFC Communications via email at steven@montereybayfc.com.
2024 Records
El Paso Locomotive FC (0-1-0, 0 pts, 10th West); Monterey Bay F.C. (0-0-0, 0 pts, 8th West)
