Edinburg, Texas (September 1, 2018) – After grabbing four points on two games in California the rival Rio Grand Valley FC Toros were looking to extend their run and keep their playoff hopes alive, and all that would stand in their way were the rivals from the south, San Antonio FC.
San Antonio FC victorious over rival Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
It was an interesting start to the night for San Antonio as they had players Charlie Ward, Jose Escalante, and Kyle Murphy all coming back down to face their old team.
“I have the most respect for this club, started here, played like 40 times, so I appreciate this club, Houston was a different story but this club will always hold a special place in my heart.” Said Ward on his time with the club.
Starting XI
RGVFC: Nico Corti, Manny Padilla, Conor Donovan, Omar Ontiveros, Sheldon Sullivan, Wilmer Cabrera, Todd Wharton(C), Jesus Enriquez, Pablo Aguilar, Jorginho James, Carlos Small.
SAFC: Matt Cardone, Darnell King, Greg Cochrane (C), Cyprian Hendrick, Stephen McCarthy, Charlie Ward, Omar Gordon, Mikey Lopez, Connor Presley, Lance Laing, Ever Guzman.
Once the whistle blew to start the derby on a windy valley night the Toros seemed to be the team to watch out for having several opportunities at the start of the match.
In the third minute, the Toros would strike first with an early goal from Jesus Enriquez.
“It was a great combination play we moved the ball around, we were very dynamic and just the one touch and two touch playing of the ball,” said head coach Gerson Echeverry. “When Chuy (Jesus) got the ball there were runs made and everything opened up, he dribbled a little bit and picked the corner.”
After that San Antonio were able to get into the game by making the Toro’s defense and goalkeeper Nico Corti work for the clean sheet by winning challenges in key areas and taking shots that made Corti have to reach out and knock them aside.
Later in the first half San Antonio were forced to make an offensive substitution due to an injury and it would end up changing the game. The First half ended and the Toros would take the slim lead going into the locker room 1-0.
The whistle blew for the second half and San Antonio came out of the second half as a different team having even more chances than they did before.
In the 49th minute Connor Presley found the back of the net with help from his teammate Lance Laing for San Antonio tying the game at one goal a piece.
After that San Antonio looked like they had all of the momentum and weren’t going to let it go unless the Toros would change their ways.
Then in the 62nd minute, Laing would put his team up 2-1 with the help of Mikey Lopez.
“The second goal was just really a good team goal, I won the ball in the middle and then I played it out wide to Ever Guzman and then he played it back to Omar and he squared it to me and then I played it to Lance and he just finished it off,” said Lopez.
San Antonio would then close out the game in the 81st minute with Ever Guzman playing a one-touch chip over Corti to give them a two-goal lead 3-1.
The final whistle blew bringing another chapter of this rivalry to a close with the Toros now only leading the rivalry 4-3.
The Toros will look to bounce back on the 5th of September when they play Phoenix Rising FC in Phoenix Arizona who sit in second place in the Western Conference.
