EL PASO, Texas (Oct. 30, 2026) – San Antonio fell 2-1 on the road to El Paso Locomotive FC in the Western Conference Quarterfinals Friday night. The loss eliminates the team from the 2026 playoffs, the club’s seventh playoff appearance in 11 seasons.
The Locomotive went up 2-0 after scoring on either side of halftime before Diogo Pacheco slammed home a close-range strike to cut into the deficit in the 84th minute.
With the loss, San Antonio’s 2026 playoff run comes to a close.
Scoring Summary:
ELP: Rubio Rubin (Assisted by Roberto Avila) 14’
ELP: Tony Alfaro (Assisted by Robert Coronado) 54’
SA: Diogo Pacheco (Assisted by Andres Paredes) 84’
Postgame Notes:
- San Antonio closes out the season at 11-8-12 with 45 points, finishing in 6th place in the Western Conference standings.
- San Antonio ended the season on a three-match scoring streak.
- SAFC has made the playoffs in two consecutive seasons and six times in the last seven campaigns.
- Forward Diogo Pacheco netted his first goal of the season, with Andres Paredes assisting his first score of the year.
- Midfielder Jorge Hernandez made his first appearance from injury since September 20, while forward Andres Paredes made his first since October 3.
SAFC Starting XI: Joey Batrouni, Nelson Flores Blanco (Andres Paredes 66’), Alex Crognale, Mitchell Taintor (Captain), Tiago Suarez, Emil Cuello, Akeem O’Connor-Ward (Christian Sorto 81’), Curt Calov, Lucio Berron (Jorge Hernandez 60’), Cristian Parano, Santiago Patiño (Diogo Pacheco 60’)
Substitutions Not Used: Danny Barbir, Rece Buckmaster, Richard Sanchez
Disciplinary Summary:
ELP: Yellow Card (Kofi Twumasi) 20’
SA: Yellow Card (Santiago Patiño) 30’
ELP: Yellow Card (Arturo Ortiz) 34’
SA: Yellow Card (Lucio Berron) 37’
ELP: Yellow Card (Ricky Ruiz) 45’
ELP: Yellow Card (Roberto Avila) 45’
SA: Yellow Card (Alex Crognale) 65’
ELP: Yellow Card (Tony Alfaro) 75’
ELP: Yellow Card (Noah Dollenmayer) 89’
ELP: Yellow Card (Robert Coronado) 90+2’
SA: Yellow Card (Jorge Hernandez) 90+4’
Quotes:
Head Coach Carlos Llamosa
(On the season…)
“Well, there were a lot of up and downs in the season. In the first four or five months of the season, we were good. We were at the top of the table, and then we dropped a bit in the summer, running the two tournaments, the Prinx Cup in USL. At the end of the day, everything comes down to one game, one playoff game tonight. We fought with the work, but unfortunately, we give up silly goals that cost us at the end of the day. For the most part, we played good. We come here, we competed for 90 minutes to the final whistle. We competed and tried to get back in the score and, as I said, fell asleep on two plays, and that cost us the game tonight.”
(On the team’s growth this year…)
“Definitely, this year we looked much better than last year. We looked more mature. We competed better, more dangerous. We lost support on players throughout the year, and having that in mind, the guys who stepped in to replace those guys on the field, they were good. I think the key here is we need to be more consistent. We need to be more consistent when we’re going at a tough stretch, it’s not to lose. That’s the key. If you don’t get three points, at least get one point, and that keeps us on top of the table, but we lost home games that cost us also, so we need to improve. We need to be better.”
(On what he’s most proud of…)
“I’m proud of the work, the fight that they put in until the last second of the season. At some point a couple weeks ago when everything looks like we’re going up a hill, the guys stepped up, and we had three good games. I think in Oakland, we played good, and then the last two games at home, we played good. Here we came here to compete, but unfortunately, we didn’t get the result.”
Defender Alex Crognale
(On the result…)
“Obviously feeling disappointment now because we’re here and getting knocked out of the first round of playoffs wasn’t our plan but a lot of ups and downs throughout the season. We were right up near the top for a lot of the season, most of the season in first or second place, and then for a number of reasons, we let that slip and fell down the table, and those things come back to haunt you, you know, finishing sixth place and having to come on the road to travel, so a lot to reflect on but still proud to be out there with the guys and to represent San Antonio.”
(On the team’s fight this season…)
“A lot of guys stepped up. We faced a lot of adversity with injuries, guys coming in and out of the lineup, and I think we saw a lot of faces come in and contribute – young guys, veterans – and that’s something for us to be proud and something that’s really important in this league is having a full squad that can contribute.”
