The San Diego Loyal (4-1-2) will return to Torero Stadium to face El Paso Locomotive FC (3-3-1) on Saturday, April 29, at 7:00 pm.

The Loyal are coming off an energizing 5-4 extra-time loss to the Seattle Sounders in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

The game saw the Loyal tie it in the final minute of regulation extra-time as Kyle Adams’ rocket belted the back of the next to tie the game at 3-3 and extend play until the 120th minute. The teams traded goals in extra time before a 123rd-minute penalty ultimately gave the Sounders the win.

Now, after that heart-racing fixture, San Diego will be looking for a fIfth-straight home win as the Locos come into town.

The Locos are coming in on some decent form as well. In their last four USL games, they’ve won three and outscored opponents 8-2.

Striker Luis Solignac and midfielder Petar Petrović are the duo to watch coming in. The two have been lethal in front of goal as of late; Solignac has scored four in the last three, and Petrović has two in the last four.

Last season Solignac led the team in goals with 16, and Petrović is a January edition from Trelleborgs FF of the Superettan – Sweden’s second division, The Swedish native contributed nine goals and five assists across 26 appearances for Trelleborgs.

The last time these two teams met was in August of last year in a convincing 3-1 San Diego win. But the Loyal offense looks somewhat different than it did last time out. Two of their scorers forwards Kyle Vassell and Thomas Amang, are no longer with the team, but the third scorer of that previous matchup Evan Conway has stepped in their absences.

Conway leads San Diego in goals this season with three in his seven appearances, starting up top as the lone striker. New forward additions Ronaldo Damus and Adrien Pérez have also chipped in with three combined goals. 

The midfield duo of Joe Corona and Charlie Adams have connected well to keep this San Diego offense firing. The two maestros have combined to create 23 chances in Corona’s seven and Adams’ five appearances.

With both teams crashing out of the Open Cup midweek, both will convert all their focus to the remainder of the USL regular season. 

Last season the Locos just missed out on the USL playoffs due to goal difference, so they’ll be looking to solidify a spot after a decent start, while the Loyal are looking to win the USL Championship for the first time after multiple playoff pushes in their fourth season as a club.

It’s bound to be a heated matchup between two notoriously hard-fighting teams.

Morgan Prickett

Morgan Prickett is currently studying Journalism at San Diego State and is on pace to graduate in 2023. He was born in Libreville, Gabon and lived in Pretoria, South Africa for 7 years until he moved to the Bay Area. He’s a massive soccer and basketball fan; mainly supporting Arsenal of the English Premier League and any team Chris Paul is on. He’s also an avid supporter of all sports teams in San Diego and loves watching all San Diego State sports.