The El Paso Locomotive FC earned a point on Saturday night as the played to a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Southwest University Park.
The Locos got on the board first as Macca King scored a goal in the twelfth minute mark of the match. Switchbacks began chasing the game with high pressure, nearly finding an equalizer early but sent the ball wide from close range.
Fresh legs in the second half from Locomotive put the attacking edge back into the El Paso, however, shots from Forward Aaron Gomez and Mares would go wide of the net or barely saved by the Switchbacks ‘keeper. At the 73rd minute, after a soft tackle by Defender Yuma, the referee pointed to the spot, prompting Switchback’s Hadji Barry to convert the penalty kick that ended the match 1-1.
Here’s what Locomotive Head Coach Mark Lowry said post game:
“It’s what we expected, to be honest, we kind of scripted it like that. We should have won the game. We should have been 2-0 up at halftime. We had two or three chances outside of the goal which I expect the guys to finish. If it was two-nil at halftime, we win the game and that was how we planed it. We wanted to be a little more cautious in the first half because we changed the lineup because we have some tired guys out there.”
With the draw the Locos get one point and remain undefeated in the 2021 season.
The Locomotives next match will be next Saturday against Real Monarchs at Zions Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for Friday, June 18 at 8:00 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.