San Antonio FC beat Reno 1868 FC 4-0 at Toyota Field to keep its undefeated record so far this season. Goals from Billy Forbes, Rafa Castillo, and a brace by Cesar Elizondo earned the club its largest win in club history in front of 6,403 home fans.
“Tonight we capitalized on the chances that we had and we scored the goals at the right times,” SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell said. “We’ve stood here before on different occasions, and goals do change games, and that certainly happened tonight.”
San Antonio FC opened the scoring in the 34th minute when midfielder Billy Forbes skillfully turned on a defender and dribbled his way into the box, where he slotted the ball past Reno goalkeeper Matt Bersano for the 1-0 lead. The goal marked Forbes’ third for the club and Greg Cochrane’s first assist of the season.
The hosts widened the lead in the 67th minute after Forbes played forward Cesar Elizondo in on goal with a through-ball. The forward collected the ball and buried it for the 2-0 lead past the diving goalkeeper. Elizondo later tallied his second goal of the night in the 79th minute when Sebastien Ibeagha beat the defense with a pass that found the forward in one-on-one with the keeper.
The final goal of the night came in stoppage time when midfielder Devin Vega was taken down inside of the box, earning the hosts a penalty kick. Midfielder Rafa Castillo stepped up for the penalty and converted it for his second goal of the season to wrap up a 4-0 win.
The match marks the Alamo City club’s third clean sheet in four matches this season and the first time that SAFC has scored four goals in a single match. Elizondo’s brace was also just the second in club history.
San Antonio FC currently sits in first place in the Western Conference with 10 points. The club will now embark on a three-match road trip to the Pacific Northwest, during which it will face Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2, Seattle Sounders FC 2, and Portland Timbers 2 in the span of seven days.
Scoring Summary:
SAFC: 1-0, Billy Forbes (Greg Cochrane assist) 34’
SAFC: 2-0, Cesar Elizondo (Billy Forbes assist) 67’
SAFC: 3-0, Cesar Elizondo (Sebastien Ibeagha assist) 79’
SAFC: 4-0, Rafa Castillo (penalty) 90’
Disciplinary Summary:
SAFC: Yellow Card (Pecka) 69’
SAFC Starting XI: GK: Matt Cardone; D: Ben Newnam, Sebasiten Ibeagha, Stephen McCarthy, Greg Cochrane; M: Rafa Castillo, Michael Reed (c) (Maxi Rodriguez 63’), Pecka, Kris Tyrpak (Devin Vega 78’), Billy Forbes; F: Cesar Elizondo (Aly Alberto Hassan 86’)
Substitutions Not Used: Diego Restrepo, AJ Ajeakwa, Ryan Roushandel, Shawn Chin
Postgame Notes:
- San Antonio FC continued their unbeaten run on Saturday after defeating Reno 1868 FC 4-0 at Toyota Field…unbeaten streak has reached four matches (three wins, one draw)…SAFC currently sits in first place in the Western Conference standings
- The 4-0 win for San Antonio FC is the largest victory in club history and marks the most goals scored in a single match by the club…SAFC recorded a 3-0 win on 4/3/16 at Seattle for their previous largest margin of victory…SAFC has now scored at least three goals in a USL match on four separate occasions, all of them coming in the month of April (4/3/16 at SEA, 4/30/16 vs. TUL, 4/1/17 vs. LA, 4/15/17 vs. RNO)
- SAFC forward Cesar Elizondo recorded just the second brace in club history, scoring his first two goals of the season…Elizondo has now matched his total goals from the 2016 season and has four in his SAFC career…marks the first brace since 4/3/16 at Seattle when forward Jason Johnson scored two goals to open the 2016 season…Elizondo was named SWBC Man of the Match after the win
- SAFC midfielder Billy Forbes scored his team-leading third goal of the season and matched the club-high with his second assist of 2017…Forbes’ three goals are also tied for the second most in the USL
- SAFC and Reno 1868 FC both recorded 11 shots, while San Antonio held the advantage in shots on target (eight to five)…Both SAFC midfielder Rafa Castillo and forward Cesar Elizondo were tied for the game-high with four shots, while Castillo’s four shots on goal led both clubs…Castillo’s seven shots on target lead the club on the season and his second goal of the season gives him seven in his SAFC career, marking a franchise-high
- SAFC defenders Sebastien Ibeagha and Greg Cochrane recorded their first assists of the season in the victory…Cochrane ranked second on the San Antonio squad in 2016 with three assists in the USL…Ibeagha did not record an assist with Rayo OKC (NASL) last season
- SAFC midfielder Pecka led the club with four tackles on the night…the Brazilian recorded a 94.9 percent passing accuracy (min. 10 passes), which led both clubs and is the highest passing accuracy of any SAFC player so far this season
- SAFC goalkeeper Matt Cardone and the SAFC defense kept their third clean sheet in four matches, tying them for the most shutouts so far in the USL…San Antonio recorded seven shutouts last season
San Antonio FC beat Reno 1868 FC 4-0 at Toyota Field to keep its undefeated record so far this season. Goals from Billy Forbes, Rafa Castillo, and a brace by Cesar Elizondo earned the club its largest win in club history in front of 6,403 home fans.
“Tonight we capitalized on the chances that we had and we scored the goals at the right times,” SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell said. “We’ve stood here before on different occasions, and goals do change games, and that certainly happened tonight.”
San Antonio FC opened the scoring in the 34th minute when midfielder Billy Forbes skillfully turned on a defender and dribbled his way into the box, where he slotted the ball past Reno goalkeeper Matt Bersano for the 1-0 lead. The goal marked Forbes’ third for the club and Greg Cochrane’s first assist of the season.
The hosts widened the lead in the 67th minute after Forbes played forward Cesar Elizondo in on goal with a through-ball. The forward collected the ball and buried it for the 2-0 lead past the diving goalkeeper. Elizondo later tallied his second goal of the night in the 79th minute when Sebastien Ibeagha beat the defense with a pass that found the forward in one-on-one with the keeper.
The final goal of the night came in stoppage time when midfielder Devin Vega was taken down inside of the box, earning the hosts a penalty kick. Midfielder Rafa Castillo stepped up for the penalty and converted it for his second goal of the season to wrap up a 4-0 win.
The match marks the Alamo City club’s third clean sheet in four matches this season and the first time that SAFC has scored four goals in a single match. Elizondo’s brace was also just the second in club history.
San Antonio FC currently sits in first place in the Western Conference with 10 points. The club will now embark on a three-match road trip to the Pacific Northwest, during which it will face Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2, Seattle Sounders FC 2, and Portland Timbers 2 in the span of seven days.
Scoring Summary:
SAFC: 1-0, Billy Forbes (Greg Cochrane assist) 34’
SAFC: 2-0, Cesar Elizondo (Billy Forbes assist) 67’
SAFC: 3-0, Cesar Elizondo (Sebastien Ibeagha assist) 79’
SAFC: 4-0, Rafa Castillo (penalty) 90’
Disciplinary Summary:
SAFC: Yellow Card (Pecka) 69’
SAFC Starting XI: GK: Matt Cardone; D: Ben Newnam, Sebasiten Ibeagha, Stephen McCarthy, Greg Cochrane; M: Rafa Castillo, Michael Reed (c) (Maxi Rodriguez 63’), Pecka, Kris Tyrpak (Devin Vega 78’), Billy Forbes; F: Cesar Elizondo (Aly Alberto Hassan 86’)
Substitutions Not Used: Diego Restrepo, AJ Ajeakwa, Ryan Roushandel, Shawn Chin
Postgame Notes:
- San Antonio FC continued their unbeaten run on Saturday after defeating Reno 1868 FC 4-0 at Toyota Field…unbeaten streak has reached four matches (three wins, one draw)…SAFC currently sits in first place in the Western Conference standings
- The 4-0 win for San Antonio FC is the largest victory in club history and marks the most goals scored in a single match by the club…SAFC recorded a 3-0 win on 4/3/16 at Seattle for their previous largest margin of victory…SAFC has now scored at least three goals in a USL match on four separate occasions, all of them coming in the month of April (4/3/16 at SEA, 4/30/16 vs. TUL, 4/1/17 vs. LA, 4/15/17 vs. RNO)
- SAFC forward Cesar Elizondo recorded just the second brace in club history, scoring his first two goals of the season…Elizondo has now matched his total goals from the 2016 season and has four in his SAFC career…marks the first brace since 4/3/16 at Seattle when forward Jason Johnson scored two goals to open the 2016 season…Elizondo was named SWBC Man of the Match after the win
- SAFC midfielder Billy Forbes scored his team-leading third goal of the season and matched the club-high with his second assist of 2017…Forbes’ three goals are also tied for the second most in the USL
- SAFC and Reno 1868 FC both recorded 11 shots, while San Antonio held the advantage in shots on target (eight to five)…Both SAFC midfielder Rafa Castillo and forward Cesar Elizondo were tied for the game-high with four shots, while Castillo’s four shots on goal led both clubs…Castillo’s seven shots on target lead the club on the season and his second goal of the season gives him seven in his SAFC career, marking a franchise-high
- SAFC defenders Sebastien Ibeagha and Greg Cochrane recorded their first assists of the season in the victory…Cochrane ranked second on the San Antonio squad in 2016 with three assists in the USL…Ibeagha did not record an assist with Rayo OKC (NASL) last season
- SAFC midfielder Pecka led the club with four tackles on the night…the Brazilian recorded a 94.9 percent passing accuracy (min. 10 passes), which led both clubs and is the highest passing accuracy of any SAFC player so far this season
- SAFC goalkeeper Matt Cardone and the SAFC defense kept their third clean sheet in four matches, tying them for the most shutouts so far in the USL…San Antonio recorded seven shutouts last season
