The near sellout crowd at Southwest University Park jumped to their feet in jubilation Saturday night as the final whistle blew, sending the home team to its first Western Conference Finals in its inaugural season. El Paso Locomotive FC had shut out Sacramento Republic FC 3-0 to continue its historic track in the USL Championship.
The expansion team is the third in league history to reach the conference finals in their bid to bring hardware back to the Sun City.
El Paso had beaten the seventh seed twice before during the season, heading into the match with confidence. Since signing players like Sebastian Velasquez and Aaron Gomez mid-season, the train had been on a roll, finding its rhythm at the perfect time heading into the playoffs.
The Locos are known to control possession with head coach Mark Lowry’s European style of play, and were the first to create several opportunities with homegrown Omar Salgado taking several failed attempts at goal. Only a few minutes later, a free kick would be awarded, taken by James Kiffe. As he launched the ball into the box, Mexican forward Aarón Gómez leaped to curl the ball into the net off a header to post the first point for the team.
Emotions ran high with the start of the second half, after several yellow cards were presented to both sides. Locomotive goalkeeper Logan Ketterer was kept busy in the stressful start of the half. Republic FC nearly found their equalizer in the 66th minute before defender Andrew Fox blocked the shot with his face after Thomas Enevoldsen had sent the ball ablaze off his left foot. Another attempt from Sacramento would bounce off the post to keep a clean sheet for Ketterer.
“I was diving; it was from close, but that’s a phenomenal save for a defender,” Ketterer said speaking of Fox. “He doesn’t get use to his hands so that’s the hard part. I get to hide behind my mitts, so hats off to him, that was a huge play that changes the game completely.”
An MLS veteran, Ketterer was able to show his strength by making several key saves for El Paso. Something the team will have the confidence of, knowing he’s in front of the net for them heading into the finals.
“I’ve always believed in myself and had the quality but it’s great to show it,” he added. “That was a terrible 10 minutes that we had, I’m going to be honest. At the end of the day we got out of it, and that’s the resiliency this team has, and these guys work for…You look at the points across the board, with decision day anyone can beat anybody. That’s the crazy thing about this league it depends what team shows up and what team wants it more at the right time.”
The noise in the stadium was deafening when the Locos were awarded a penalty off a foul to Salgado by Republic defender Dekel Keinan. It was Argentinian midfielder Sebastian Contreras who opted to shoot this time for El Paso, before launching the ball to convert the penalty. Fellow midfielder Sebastian Velasquez would secure their tickets to Salt Lake City several minutes later with a goal of his own to end the match. Players made their way around to the fans, signing autographs, and sharing their elation with their loyal supporters.
“Every single guy on that team found a way to get the victory,” Lowry told reporters following the game. “We didn’t play well [tonight] but we have the answers on the field to go solve that problem. We are the best defensive team in the league. We have a lot of things going for us to know that we can go there and win a final.”
El Paso is the lowest seed to advance to the conference finals since the league split back in 2015. Real Monarchs have posted the most wins at home in the league, and are coming off a massive upset beating number one seed Phoenix Rising last week. The Locomotive faced Real Monarchs in March and July during the regular season, ending both matchups in a draw. It will be the first time their star midfielder, Sebastian Velasquez will face his former team in the playoffs.
“Whatever happens from this point on, the guys deserve an incredible amount of credit,” Lowry added. “We hope the fans never forget this. We’re not settled, we’re not content. We want to go and win.”
