El Paso Locomotive ended with a 2-2 draw Wednesday night against New Mexico, maintaining the top position in their group after earning three points on Saturday. Cases continue to rise in Texas, and especially in El Paso, though local health officials have approved games to continue for the time being. The Locomotive organization has chosen not to have fans at home games, leaving for an eerie atmosphere with cardboard cutouts of their most loyal supporters, no ball boys, and taped drum beats from previous matches playing overhead.
El Paso was leading 2-1 heading into the half thanks to goals by Omar Salgado and Andrew Fox who scored within minutes of each other in the final minutes before the half. New Mexico had opened the scoreboard in the 11th minute with a cross by Christopher Wehan, powering a shot off his right foot from the center of the box. El Paso walks away with one point, after earning three with their win against the Toros on Saturday, to remain undefeated in these opening games of the season.
“As the season progresses, every point will be important,” El Paso head coach Mark Lowry said about the game. “All these games are important. We’re still top of the group which is where we want to stay as long as possible, to make sure that we ultimately progress through the playoffs because that’s our ultimate goal right now.”
New Mexico was hit with several minor injuries that forced substitutions of several key players, including David Najem, who had been instrumental in the first half. In the final ten minutes of the game, they lost Sam Hamilton also to injury, forcing them to play a man down after using all their substitutions.
Omar Salgado played his first game of the season, happy to contribute a goal to the team, after being out for four months like many players because of the pandemic. Most have struggled with cramping and base fitness through the 90 minutes after missing so many weeks without competition.
“It was tiring, surely getting some rust out but it felt great to be out on the pitch again,” Salgado said. “Hopefully we can continue down this path where every game we pick up some points and stay undefeated.”
El Paso will play New Mexico a total of four times in the new group play set up in this unprecedented season. They face tough competition in the group that includes Phoenix Rising and Real Monarchs FC, who beat them in the semi-finals last season.
“We learned a little bit before hand from last season…but playing against them you get to see where you hurt them, where they hurt you,” Fox said in a post-match press conference. “I think that’s the third goal I’ve scored for El Paso, and third we haven’t won. It’s a bit of a curse there, when I score. It’s going to be strange (playing them four times), but I know what I will take confidence wise into next week and I already know a couple of things that I need to improve on from tonight.”
The team will have a week to improve and continue to gain fitness before they face their New Mexico rivals next Friday, July 24th. That is, if the state has not returned to another lockdown.
