SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 17, 2026) – San Antonio FC took another step closer to clinching a postseason berth Saturday night, defeating New Mexico United 1-0 at Toyota Field.
After coming on as an early substitute, Curt Calov provided the decisive moment in the 29th minute, cutting across a New Mexico defender and striking from the top of the box to give SAFC the lead.
SAFC’s defense protected the lead through the final whistle, holding United to just a single shot on frame, to secure a clean sheet and the club’s third win over New Mexico this season.
San Antonio can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win or draw in its regular season finale next weekend.
Scoring Summary:
SA: Curt Calov (Assisted by Nelson Flores Blanco) 29’
Next Up
San Antonio FC closes out the regular season at home, hosting Orange County SC on Saturday, Oct. 24. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The 2026 season is presented by Toyota.
Postgame Notes:
- San Antonio improves to 10-7-12 on the season with 42 points, sitting in 7th place in the Western Conference standings and three points above the playoff line.
- With the victory, SAFC sweeps the season series against New Mexico, winning 1-0 in March and 2-1 in August.
- San Antonio’s 12 clean sheets are tied for third-most in USL Championship this year.
- SAFC held New Mexico to just one shot on target, while outshooting United 16-5 in total for the night.
- Midfielder Curt Calov scored his third goal across all competitions this season, also finding the net in U.S. Open Cup and USL Cup play previously.
- Defender Nelson Flores Blanco recorded his third assist of the season.
- Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni picked up his 10th shutout of the year, tied for third-most in the league.
Attendance: 7,190
SAFC Starting XI: Joey Batrouni, Nelson Flores Blanco, Alex Crognale, Mitchell Taintor (Captain), Tiago Suarez, Emil Cuello, Akeem O’Connor-Ward, Mikey Maldonado (Curt Calov 8’ (Luke Haakenson 73’)), Lucio Berron, Cristian Parano (Christian Sorto 86’), Santiago Patiño (Diogo Pacheco 73’)
Substitutions Not Used: Danny Barbir, Alex Greive, Brian Guevara, Daniel Namani, Leo Urrutia
Disciplinary Summary:
NM: Yellow Card (Christopher Gloster) 57’
SA: Yellow Card (Tiago Suarez) 63’
NM: Red Card (Zico Bailey) 80’
SA: Red Card (Luke Haakenson) 80’
SA: Yellow Card (Emil Cuello) 85’
SA: Yellow Card (Mitchell Taintor) 87’
SA: Yellow Card (Diogo Pacheco) 90+4’
Quotes:
Head Coach Carlos Llamosa
(On the win…)
“It feels good. I said with the lack of goals in the last couple weeks, we just need one goal. That’s what we need. Defensively as a team, I think we’ve been strong, and I told the guys we just need one goal, and from there the game opens up, and if we can score more, but defensively we’re doing really well, home and away, so the goal was to win the game to get the three points tonight. They were really important for us, so one more game to go in the regular season, and next week, we should do even better than tonight.”
(On what the team’s defense can show in the playoffs…)
“The same performance that we’ve been doing throughout the year, or even the same that we did tonight. I think we’ve been very consistent. On the defensive side, as a group tonight, I liked the forwards. I liked Santi [Patiño]. Our pressure starts with him forcing the ball to one side and then forcing the error. In that high pressure he started the game, we created like four or five chances, just pressing high, turning the ball down over and then creating chances in front of the goal.”
(On the team heading into the last game of the regular season…)
“It’s a group with a lot of character, a lot of good players. Tonight, as I said, we faced one of the best in our league, and I think we responded really well. Sometimes when teams are in that situation, it’s the way you bounce back or you go down to the drain, and my team showed the character tonight that we have the quality to bounce back and compete to make playoffs and then compete in the playoffs.”
Defender Tiago Suarez
(On the result …)
“Yeah, it’s been a long time coming recently. We’ve had a lot of moments that we could have scored, maybe should have scored, but sometimes in footy, it just doesn’t happen, and today felt like a playoff atmosphere. That goal is all we need, and we’ve shown that we can keep a shutout for 90 minutes, and that’s how you get the result.”
(On the shutout…)
“Honestly, I was actually thinking about it when I got back to the locker room. Another shutout, and us center back are gonna get the credit, the back line, and Joey [Batrouni], our goalkeeper, but I just want to let everyone know that it’s not just us. Our midfield and our front line were pressing for the whole 90 minutes. New Mexico had a lot of the ball, but they had no answer. They had no clear path to our goal. It was super hard to break us down, and that starts from up front.”
(On the team’s offensive chances…)
“I feel up top, the midfield and the front line did an excellent job creating chances. Patiño was so good tonight holding up the ball, and we play with a back five, so we have less numbers up top, so it’s harder for them to create chances, but tonight they were excellent, and when it comes to changing anything, I believe in the past five or six games, we’ve given up only one goal, so for us, it’s trying to keep that consistency going to playoffs.”
Midfielder Curt Calov
(On the win…)
“Yeah, it was a really good match. Again, the defense showing up, keeping a shutout, and finally we were able to put one away, and really, really good feeling personally, just to be able to celebrate with the team. If you guys saw the pictures or the videos, just everyone coming together and celebrating, it’s really cool.”
(On facing Orange County next week in the regular season finale …)
“I would like to say any game we’re confident, right, but it’s going to take a team effort. It’s going to take the same amount of energy, the same amount of dedication and focus that we had this week and in training. I like to say we’re ready, but we know what it takes. We have to bring it.”
