Danny Barbir scores game-winning goal as SAFC holds New Mexico scoreless
SAN ANTONIO (March 21, 2026) – San Antonio FC grinded out a 1-0 win against New Mexico United Saturday at Toyota Field in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Quarterfinals.
San Antonio peppered the goal with six shots on goal in the first half, but its breakthrough goal came in the 74th minute as Danny Barbir headed in a corner kick from Jorge Hernandez to send SAFC off with all three points.
Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni put up his second consecutive shutout, making four saves in the match to keep New Mexico off the board.
Scoring Summary:
SA: Danny Barbir (Assisted by Jorge Hernandez) 74’
Next Up
San Antonio FC hosts Lexington SC next Sunday, March 29. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast on CBS Sports Golazo Network. The 2026 season is presented by Toyota.
Postgame Notes:
- San Antonio improves to 2-0-1 on the season, moving into 2nd place in the Western Conference standings with 7 points.
- San Antonio grabbed its first win over New Mexico since August 13, 2023.
- SAFC is undefeated in its last eight USL Championship games when scoring first dating back to May 2025.
- SAFC outshot New Mexico 20-10 on the night, also leading in shots on target 9-4.
- Defender Danny Barbir posted his first goal for the club, becoming San Antonio’s eighth different scorer across all competitions.
- Midfielder Jorge Hernandez assisted his first goal of the season.
- Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni made four saves for his second straight clean sheet of the season.
- San Antonio has held opponents scoreless through the run of play in 270 straight minutes to start the season, only conceding a penalty kick in its first three matches.
- Forward EJ Johnson made his first USL Championship appearance with the team after debuting in the Open Cup match on Wednesday.
Attendance: 5,797
SAFC Starting XI: Joey Batrouni, Emil Cuello, Mitchell Taintor (Captain), Alex Crognale, Danny Barbir, Akeem O’Connor-Ward, Mikey Maldonado, Dmitrii Erofeev (Curt Calov 83’), Jorge Hernandez (EJ Johnson 90’), Cristian Parano (Nelson Flores Blanco 90’), Santiago Patiño (Christian Sorto 64’)
Substitutions Not Used: Rece Buckmaster, Angel Mercado, Richard Sanchez, Tiago Suarez, Leo Urrutia
Disciplinary Summary:
NM: Yellow Card (Niall Reid-Stephen) 23’
SA: Yellow Card (Mikey Maldonado) 28’
NM: Yellow Card (Zico Bailey) 31’
NM: Yellow Card (Christopher Gloster) 54’
SA: Yellow Card (Jorge Hernandez) 71’
SA: Yellow Card (Cristian Parano) 79’
SA: Yellow Card (EJ Johnson) 90+5’
Quotes:
Head Coach Carlos Llamosa
(On the win…)
“We’re feeling great. I give the credit to the guys, to my players. I believe for 90-plus minutes, we controlled the game. We dominated the game. We beat a good team tonight, and that was the game plan to take the ball away from New Mexico. They’re really good. When they control the ball, they know how to pass the ball to ensure how to find the space behind the pressure, so we need to press those guys high and don’t let them be comfortable in the game, and I think for most part of the 90 minutes, we succeeded, and we did well in our pressure.”
(On the team’s offensive pressure …)
“We just need one. I believe we have like, eight or nine corner kicks and free kicks in the first half, and that was something that we mentioned at halftime. We need to put one away. We have a big targets. We have our great servers, Jorge [Hernandez] and Mikey [Maldonado], so we need to take advantage of that and put down one away.”
Defender Danny Barbir
(On scoring the game-winning goal…)
“It felt good, and we knew we were knocking on the door. We had so many corner kicks and free kicks, and like I said earlier, we were emphasizing set pieces especially for this game, that we need to score on set pieces. We have too big of a group, and too good service from Jorge [Hernandez] to not score, so really happy we got one and we won.”
Midfielder Mikey Maldonado
(On the importance of starting off strong after Wednesday’s match…)
“That hit us. I think it sets the tone for the whole game the first five to ten minutes, if we can get a couple chances. I mean, if they go in, they go in. If they don’t, we get more chances. I think after that, we did do stuff in practice just to make sure that right off the bat, we need to go, so I think overall, we had a great week of training, and it led to a win.”
(On the squad’s emphasis on defensive play …)
“I think for me personally, that’s my bread and butter. That’s something that I try to instill in our defenders and center-mids, even our forwards, to fall in love with the dirty work because everything else for us is going to fall, so I think back line all the way to Joey [Batrouni], and everyone was spectacular today, so I think clean sheets are going to help us but offense that’s going to come with ease for us. We have so many creators on this team, even we’ve got center backs scoring. We got [Alex Crognale} shooting from, and then we got Danny [Barbir] flicking it on, so everyone’s going to be able to score on this team. I think it’s just matter of just defending to the end.”
