EL PASO, Texas – April 3, 2022 – El Paso Locomotive (0-4-0, 0 points, West-13) fell 2-3 in its first meeting with San Diego Loyal on Sunday at Torero Stadium in San Diego, California.
Defender Harry Brockbank recorded his second goal in as many games for the Locos while Forward Aaron Gomeztallied his first of the season.
Locomotive put on display its defensive work early in the game, keeping an aggressive San Diego Loyal side off the board. For 20 minutes, El Paso kept Loyal without a goal before conceding one in the 21st minute to Kyle Vassell. The San Diego lead did not last long, however, as Locomotive responded perfectly, taking the attack to the other half.
Brockbank leveled the game in the 26th minute, cleaning up a deflected shot to keep Locomotive in the fight. The back and forth ahead of the break landed in Loyal’s favor as Tumi Moshobane cleanly found a goal in the 40th minute.
Locomotive once again dominated the stat sheet in the second half, making nine shots and holding 62.7% of possession behind an 86.9% passing accuracy. A series of those shots came just under the hour mark with Midfielders Nick Hinds and Emmanuel Sonupe tested the San Diego Loyal defense with successive shots. Despite the Locomotive control, Loyal’s Thomas Amang furthered San Diego’s lead in the 66th minute. Locomotive never stopped fighting, pushing to salvage a point on the road until the final whistle. In the 87th minute, Forward Lucho Solignac paired with Gomez to pull back a goal to end the game 2-3.
UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive returns to Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup action, taking on Central Valley Fuego FC of USL League One on Tuesday, April 5. The match in Fresno, Calif. kicks off at 8:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Locomotive continues its USL Championship campaign hosting Monterey Bay FC on Saturday, April 9 at Southwest University Park. Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for 7:30 p.m. MT. Tickets are available for purchase online at eplocomotivefc.com/tickets.