Playoff picture in play in matchup
San Diego Loyal is last team from USL West to beat SAFC
San Antonio FC will continue its three-game homestand this Saturday night when it welcomes San Diego Loyal FC to Toyota Field.
San Diego comes to town after losing last week at Oakland 2-0. That loss dropped San Diego to fourth in USL’S Western Conference with 20 points. So far this season San Diego has gone 6-4-2 under first-year head coach Nate Miller.
Miller took over the reins of San Diego Loyal from former United States men’s national team star Landon Donovan prior to this season. Donovan moved into an executive position with San Diego Loyal.
“San Diego is a great team. They have a clear identity. They like to get their wingbacks playing at our last level,” San Antonio coach Alen Marcina said. “We have to be focused and be at our best in the individual duels. At the same time they are very expansive so in our press the expectation is immediate verticality to exploit how expansive they are.
Last week San Antonio held on for a 2-1 win over New Mexico at Toyota Field. That win allowed SAFC to stay in a tie for second with El Paso Locomotive FC with 22 points. San Antonio has won six, lost two and tied four games this season. Rida Zouhir scored one of the two San Antonio goals in his first home match with the club.
“We are well prepared. Every game is different, but we are just trying to perform every week,” Zouhir said. “The guys are ready.”
San Antonio is five points back of first place Sacramento entering action this weekend. Sacramento will be at the second-place team in the East, Tampa Bay, this Saturday.
There will be a couple of streaks on the line for San Antonio this Saturday night. SAFC has not lost at home since April 2, 2022 and has not lost to a team from the USL Championship Western Conference since August 6, 2022. That game on August 6 was a road game at San Diego Loyal that the Loyal won 3-0.
A month later, on Sept. 10, San Antonio beat San Diego 1-0 at Toyota Field in the most recent game between the two clubs.
“They are a super talented team who plays good football,” San Antonio Defender Mitchell Taintor said. “They have five or six guys we have to be aware of. They are a dangerous team.”
Despite being a part of USL Championship since 2020, San Diego had not played San Antonio in the regular season until its win last August. The two did meet in the 2021 Western Conference quarterfinals with SAFC winning that game 2-0 at Toyota Field
Through its first 12 games this season San Diego has scored 18 goals and given up 15 goals for a plus-three goal difference. San Antonio is second in the USL Championship for both goals scored (20) and goals conceded (9).
“We strive to be number one in every category possible,” Marcina said. “We’re doing a lot of great things and continue to put ourselves in good positions.”
Evan Conway is the Loyal leading goal scorer
with four this season. San Antonio is led individually by Tani Oluwaseyi who
also has scored four goals.
San Antonio and San Diego will kickoff Saturday
night at 8 p.m. at Toyota Field. San Antonio will close out the homestand
next Saturday with an 8 p.m. game against El Paso.