Jorge Hernandez posts two assists to power San Antonio comeback
Colorado Springs, Colo. (June 24, 2026) – San Antonio FC closed out its month on the road with a win, rallying from an early deficit to earn a 2-1 victory over Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Wednesday night at Weidner Field.
The Switchbacks scored first, pouncing on a second-chance ball after its initial penalty kick attempt was saved by Joey Batrouni in the 15th minute. SAFC responded soon after, with Dmitrii Erofeev taking a one-touch finish in the box to level the score before heading into halftime.
San Antonio took the lead in the 70th minute as Jorge Hernandez’s corner kick found the head of Alex Crognale to punch in the winning score.
Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni made four saves in the match, including a crucial sliding stop in stoppage time to deny an equalizer.
Scoring Summary
COS: Khori Bennett 15’
SA: Dmitrii Erofeev (Assisted by Jorge Hernandez) 29’
SA: Alex Crognale (Assisted by Jorge Hernandez) 70’
Next Up
San Antonio FC has the weekend off before returning home to host Monterey Bay F.C. on Saturday, July 4. Kickoff from Toyota Field is set for 8:00 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. The 2026 season is presented by Toyota.
Postgame Notes:
- SAFC improves to 6-2-6 on the season with 24 points, sitting in second place in the Western Conference standings.
- SAFC now holds a 15-4-7 lead in the all-time series against Colorado Springs.
- San Antonio is undefeated in its first match after a loss this season, going 1-0-2 across all competitions.
- Midfielder Jorge Hernandez’s pair of assists brought him to 41 total USL Championship regular season assists, moving into ninth place all-time in league history. Hernandez is just the 10th player to hit 40 career assists in the league.
- Midfielder Dmitrii Erofeev moves into a tie with Hernandez for most goals scored on the team with five this season.
- The score marked Erofeev’s sixth across all competitions and his seventh goal contribution in the last seven games.
- Defender Alex Crognale scored his fourth goal and second game-winner of the season.
- Hernandez posted his fourth and fifth assists of the year, bringing him into a tie for most on the team, as he made the sixth multi-assist performance of his club career.
- Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni made four saves in the match.
- San Antonio gained points from a losing position for the third time in four matches.
- Forward Cristian Parano made his return from injury, making his first appearance since May 9.
SAFC Starting XI: Joey Batrouni, Alex Crognale, Mitchell Taintor (Captain), Danny Barbir, Akeem O’Connor Ward, Emil Cuello, Mikey Maldonado (Cristian Parano 72’), Lucio Berron, Dmitrii Erofeev (Nicky Hernandez 72’), Jorge Hernandez (Luke Haakenson 79’), Christian Sorto (Santiago Patiño 79’)
Substitutions Not Used: Nelson Flores Blanco, Richard Sanchez, Alexis Souahy
Disciplinary Summary:
SA: Yellow Card (Dmitrii Erofeev) 51’
SA: Yellow Card (Mikey Maldonado) 52’
SA: Yellow Card (Emil Cuello) 65’
COS: Yellow Card (Brennan Ward) 71’
SA: Yellow Card (Akeem O’Connor-Ward) 84’
COS: Yellow Card (Sadam Masereka) 87’
SA: Yellow Card (Alex Crognale) 90+2’
SA: Yellow Card (Nicky Hernandez) 90+5’
Quotes:
Head Coach Carlos Llamosa
(On the win…)
“It’s a good three points away. We played a tough team, but the guys showed maturity again. Early in the game, we gave up a goal, a questionable PK, but we controlled the ball after that goal. We created chances until we tied the game, and then on set pieces we’ve been scoring a lot this year, so we try to take advantage of those set pieces. We have big guys. We have guys who are aggressive on those set pieces, so it’s good to have the win tonight.”
(On the team’s comeback results …)
“We talk about as a team that we have a good team, so it doesn’t matter if we go down on the scoresheet, we continue playing what we work for, continue what we practice, make sure we follow the script and don’t get desperate, and that’s what they did tonight.”
(On closing out the game with the lead…)
“It took tenacity. They fought until the final whistle. We defended well. They even had a good chance at the end, and Joey [Batrouni] came out aggressive and shut down and denied the goal at the 92nd minute. It’s part of the game, but I think everyone worked hard to get the lead tonight.”
Defender Alex Crognale
(On the performance…)
“We’re feeling great. Tired, the boys put in a heck of a shift. We battled for 90 minutes and it’s great whenever you can go on the road and steal three points. We just have that mentality where we never die. It doesn’t matter what happens throughout the game. We know we’re going to continue to fight and continue to play our game and stick to the game plan. The early goal is obviously unfortunate. We want to start where we score the first goal, but we never wavered and we stayed confident and you saw that we responded right away with a goal, going into halftime 1-1. From there, we knew that it was going to be a battle but in the end, our football won out.”
Midfielder Dmitrii Erofeev
(On the win…)
“It’s such a nice feeling, winning games away, especially these types of games when you’re fighting all game, when sometimes the ref isn’t on your side, and these are the most important games, the most important points that we’re getting through the season, so it’s the best feeling going into the mental health break with a win.”
(On his recent goal contributions…)
“I’m just trying to do what I’m capable of, and my team helps me because all these goals, all these assists, would not happen without them, so I’m just doing what I can do, and I’m going to try to continue that.”
