San Antonio FC Battles to Thrilling 3-3 Draw against Colorado Springs
USL San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC Battles to Thrilling 3-3 Draw against Colorado Springs

Published on May 2, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
San Antonio FC News Release


SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio FC came from behind twice to record a point in a gritty 3-3 draw against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Saturday at Toyota Field.

The visitors struck first in the 25th minute, but Jorge Hernandez found space thanks to a well-placed ball from Cristian Parano and sent home the opening goal for SAFC in the 34th minute.

The Switchbacks once again jumped in front with a quick goal out of the halftime break, but Hernandez was able to equalize with a brilliant bender from outside the box, bringing the score to 2-2 in the 83rd minute.

Alex Crognale struck from distance to put San Antonio back up in the final minutes of stoppage time, but Colorado Springs capitalized off an SAFC deflection minutes later to send each team home with a point apiece.

Scoring Summary:

COS: Yosuke Hanya 25'

SA: Jorge Hernandez (Assisted by Cristian Parano) 34'

COS: Sadam Masereka 46'

SA: Jorge Hernandez (Assisted by Akeem O'Connor-Ward) 83'

SA: Alex Crognale 90+8'

COS: Curt Calov (Own goal) 90+10'

Next Up

San Antonio FC heads back on the road to face Phoenix Rising FC next Saturday, May 9. Kickoff is set for 9:00 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The 2026 season is presented by Toyota.

Postgame Notes:

SAFC moves to 4-1-4 on the season with 16 points, now taking over 1st place in the Western Conference standings.

San Antonio leads the all-time series against the Switchbacks at 14-4-7, remaining unbeaten against Colorado Springs at Toyota Field with a 10-0-4 home record.

Midfielder Jorge Hernandez recorded his first brace of the season with his team-leading fourth and fifth goals this year.

Defender Alex Crognale follows closely behind Hernandez with three goals.

Forward Cristian Parano leads the USL Championship with four assists to date, while Akeem O'Connor-Ward recorded his first of the season.

SAFC scored three goals for the second consecutive league match while outshooting Colorado Springs 18-8.

Attendance: 5,570

SAFC Starting XI: Joey Batrouni, Emil Cuello, Mitchell Taintor (Captain), Alex Crognale, Tiago Suarez, Akeem O'Connor-Ward, Mikey Maldonado, Dmitrii Erofeev (Curt Calov 67'), Jorge Hernandez (Luke Haakenson 90+11'), Cristian Parano (Nelson Flores Blanco 90+11'), Santiago Patino (Diogo Pacheco 67')

Substitutions Not Used: Danny Barbir, Richard Sanchez, Christian Sorto

Disciplinary Summary:

COS: Yellow Card (Kadeem Cole) 22'

SA: Yellow Card (Dmitrii Erofeev) 48'

SA: Yellow Card (Emil Cuello) 58'

SA: Yellow Card (Mikey Maldonado) 58'

COS: Yellow Card (Yosuke Hanya) 64'

SA: Yellow Card (Patrick Burner) 90+1'

Quotes:

Assistant Coach Fredy Herrera

(On the result)

"First of all, I want to highlight the effort of the players. They did an excellent job. They turned the game around. We started slow, and that's something for us to grow and learn, but in general, the team had excellent effort, and we're more proud than anything in the way we play, in the way we performed and turned the game around."

(On Jorge Hernandez and Alex Crognale stepping up to score)

"We're talking about top players, and they're representing the club in the way they perform, not just in games through the week, and they don't give up, and you saw Jorge had three opportunities prior to that after scoring the first goal, so it's just a matter of keep going, keep working hard, and the game at the end of the day pays off, and all the effort and Alex, same thing on set pieces and on the way we build, on the way we understand the game. They're key players in our team and we know them for the way they compete."

(On carrying the team's effort into the next game)

"We stay positive. When we spoke to the players. The message is, the result gives us a point, but it's the mentality that we that we brought in today, and then that we showed it to our fans, and it's what we're keeping and it shows through the week, day by day. The activation all the way to the end of the [training] sessions, is always a positive, competitive environment, so that's what we want to highlight."

Defender Mitchell Taintor

(On the draw)

"Yeah, I feel like Colorado had some really good pressure in the first half. It took us a little bit to adapt to it. Yeah, it's disappointing letting up three goals, but I think in the grand scheme of things, we're building in the right direction, and I think for neutrals, it was a great game. Obviously, it's an emotional game, and if you can bottle up that feeling of the crowd after the third goal, we'd be millionaires, so that's why we play the game, but I think we're building in the right direction. Disappointing, obviously, but it is what it is."

(On Colorado Springs' aggressive pressing)

"I think in the first half, their pressure was good, and it was difficult for us on the ball to get in a rhythm like they were on it, and we didn't adjust in real time, so it was a little more hectic for us, and that's what they wanted, and they were good at it, and then I think in the second half, obviously, you're not gonna have control of the game, the entire game, every game, and so you kind of just have to take those moments, and when you have the ball and you have them on the ropes, you got to make the most of it, and when we don't have the ball, and they're kind of in a rhythm, that's when defensively we need to hunker down, remember we're doing that training and defend as a unit, and honestly, I thought we did that. We really didn't give up any chances, like the goals were the goals, but, I feel really confident in the group going forward."

Defender Tiago Suarez

(On coming back from being down a goal)

"Obviously, sometimes you can't control that. They score a goal and we go down, but one thing I can say that we were really proud of was our response every single time to eventually come back at the end and get a tie at home, but yeah, I mean, I think it's a mix of both. Obviously, there's a bunch of things that we could control in that game that we let slip, but thankfully, it's early in the season, we can learn move on."

(On settling into his role on the defense)

"I would say that this season, defensively, we're really strong. I think we have the best back line in the league, and it's going to be competitive throughout the entire season, but that's what's going to create, like we've all been saying, the championship team is consistently pushing one another to be better."

# # SanAntonioFC.com # #

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from May 2, 2026


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