Diogo Pacheco and Jake LaCava net their second preseason goals
SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 22, 2025) – San Antonio FC grabbed its fourth straight preseason victory with a 2-1 win over El Paso Locomotive FC Saturday at Toyota Field.
SAFC wasted no time jumping on the board after the opening whistle, as Jake LaCava found Diogo Pacheco for a quick strike in the 3rd minute for Pacheco’s second goal in as many matches.
LaCava followed the assist with a goal of his own shortly out of the halftime break to give SAFC some extra insurance before the Locomotive grabbed a goal back in the 71st minute.
Scoring Summary:
SAFC: Diogo Pacheco (Assisted by Jake LaCava) 3’
SAFC: Jake LaCava (Assisted by Alexis Souahy) 52’
ELP: Trialist 71’
Next Up
San Antonio FC closes out its preseason slate Saturday, March 1 in a closed-door friendly against Houston Dynamo FC. The 10th anniversary season presented by Toyota will open against Monterey Bay F.C. Saturday, March 8 at Toyota Field. Tickets are on sale now at SanAntonioFC.com or on the SAFC app.
SAFC Starting XI: Richard Sanchez, Mitchell Taintor, Alexis Souahy, Jimmy Medranda (Trialist 57’), Shannon Gomez (Alex Crognale 77’), Almir Soto (Mohamed Omar 57’), Nicky Hernandez, Jorge Hernandez, Diogo Pacheco (Juan Osorio 77’), Jake LaCava, Juan Agudelo (Dmitrii Erofeev 77’)
Quotes:
Goalkeeper Richard Sanchez
(On the team’s performance…)
“The team played really well. Based on the style of play that we have for this year, I thought we executed very well. I do think that there was also a progression from the game that we played against Houston Dynamo, although we looked really good there when we played against their first team, and then throughout the weeks, we were starting to gel better and understanding more so with what the coaches and Coach Carlos has asked us, so you know, this game was a reflection of that. The result reflected it, and so now it’s, you know more so making sure that we’re consistent with that.”
(On what the team is looking to improve in the final preseason match…)
“You know, just smaller details, again, based off the style of play that we have, which is a possessive style of play, just making sure that we’re precise with our passes, and then we’re looking into exploiting the spaces that the opposition gives us, so I think that if we can have that mentality going forward, I mean, it was actually reflected in this game as well, and if we can just be consistent with that, I think that we’ll have a great year.”
Forward Jake LaCava
(On contributing to both goals on the day…)
“Obviously, it’s a good day anytime you can contribute and play a hand in both goals, but also, since the preseason has gotten underway, I’ve been very clear with what my role is on the team, and I’m very confident in my abilities and my strengths this season. I think there’s guys around me that are very confident in their strengths and their abilities, and you know, I think all of our strengths just kind of mesh well together, and I think that’s kind of what has been the key for me and helping me this preseason so far, but I’ve come back in confident and a lot of the other guys have too, and we’re just gonna build off this.”
(On the team scoring multiple goals in each preseason match…)
“I think it’s been good. As one of the attackers in the unit, I think we’re all kind of still learning each other, and chemistry, and learning the guys has a lot to do with the output in the games, but it’s been good so far. There’s been goals in every single one of our games like you said, and that’s something that hold our heads high on. We’ve played some tough competition, some really strong college teams who have sat back, and they’ve really tested us, and we’ve had to go through the process of breaking teams down. Then today with El Paso, they pressed a little bit higher, and we had to figure out some runs in behind, so I think it’s good that we’re scoring in different types of ways … I think since the start of preseason until now, we’ve been much better at taking our chances and in the final third, and we’ll only continue to get better on that.”
