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USL San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC Comeback Falls Short

July 23, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
San Antonio FC News Release


SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio FC narrowly fell 2-3 to LA Galaxy II at Toyota Field on Saturday night. The club recorded its third-largest attendance in franchise history, with 7,690 fans present at the game.

The match got off to an intense start when SAFC midfielder Rafa Castillo opened the scoring in the third minute with a direct kick from distance, giving the hosts an early 1-0 lead. The visitors leveled the score just two minutes later when Jose Villarreal beat goalkeeper Matt Cardone to equalize.

"It was a strange game," SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell said. "It became very open, very quickly, which is something we really didn't want. They have quality forwards, quality attacking play, and bottom line is there's things within our defensive line that we should have done better."

LA Galaxy II forward Jack McBean tallied the second for his team in the 20th minute after capitalizing off a counter-attack near midfield. Midfielder Jaime Villarreal netted the third goal for the visitors in the 35th minute after teammate Josh Turnley found him across the box for a tap-in.

San Antonio FC narrowed the gap in the second half when a set piece by Rafa Castillo was deflected by Galaxy II goalkeeper Clement Diop and found the feet of Stephen McCarthy, who slotted the ball in near-post.

The hosts created a handful of chances in the final ten minutes of the match, but were unable to find the back of the net for a third time despite outshooting their opponents (14 to 10) and recording one more shot on target (five to four).

San Antonio FC will return to action on the road next week as they visit Swope Park Rangers in the first of three consecutive away matches.

Scoring Summary: SAFC: 1-0, Rafa Castillo '3 LA: 1-1, Jose Villarreal '5 (Jaime Villarreal assist) LA: 1-2, Jack McBean '19 LA: 1-3, Jamie Villarreal '35 (Josh Turnley assist) SAFC: 2-3, Stephen McCarthy '84

Disciplinary Summary: LA: Yellow Card (Denzel Slager '20) LA: Yellow Card (Jose Villarreal '38) SAFC: Yellow Card (Milton Palacios '54) SAFC: Yellow Card (Rafa Castillo '71) SAFC: Yellow Card (Stephen McCarthy '89) LA: Yellow Card (Jack McBean '89) SAFC: Yellow Card (Michael Reed '90) LA: Yellow Card (Adonis Amaya '90) SAFC: Yellow Card (Danny Garcia '90)

Attendance: 7,690

SAFC Starting XI: GK: Matt Cardone; D: Milton Palacios, Stephen McCarthy (Manolo Sanchez '89), Biko Bradnock-Brennan, Greg Cochrane; M: Rafa Castillo (c), Michael Reed, Carlos Alvarez (Franck Tayou '74), Sebastien Thuriere (Miguel Salazar '74), Jason Johnson (Taylor Morgan '56); F: Cesar Elizondo (Danny Garcia '82)

Substitutions Not Used: Lee Johnston, Sam McBride, Manolo Sanchez Postgame Notes:

* San Antonio's six-match unbeaten streak came to an end on 7/23 after a 2-3 loss to LA Galaxy II...marked the first loss for the club since 6/4 and the first loss at home since 5/21

* SAFC announced an attendance of 7,690, which marked the third-highest crowd at Toyota Field in club history...only 4/9 vs. Swope Park Rangers (8,466) and 4/30 vs. Tulsa Roughnecks FC (7,837) drew bigger crowds

* Despite the loss, San Antonio FC outshot LA Galaxy II 14 to 10, and hit the target once more than the visitors (5 to 4)...SAFC lost only their second match when outshooting their opponents...the club has now outshot their opponents in 13 of 18 USL matches this season and have recorded a 6-2-5 record in those games

* San Antonio FC scored multiple goals in a match for the second consecutive game and the fourth in five after scoring two tonight...marks the seventh time this season the club has scored more than one goal in USL play

* SAFC defender Stephen McCarthy scored his second goal of the season on 7/23 vs. LA...marks the defender's first goal since he scored on 6/18 vs. Colorado Springs...is only the fourth professional goal for McCarthy after he scored his first two in MLS with the New England Revolution

* SAFC midfielder Rafa Castillo scored his third goal of the season from a direct free-kick from outside the 18-yard box...Castillo is now tied for the team-lead in goals this season with Franck Tayou and Jason Johnson...marks the first direct free-kick goal for the club in its history

* SAFC forward Cesar Elizondo made his first start for the club, playing 82 minutes...forward Manolo Sanchez also made his return as a second-half substitute after missing nine games due to injury

About Spurs Sports & Entertainment

Spurs Sports & Entertainment is the premier provider of sports and entertainment in South Texas. SS&E owns and operates the San Antonio Spurs (NBA), San Antonio Rampage (AHL), San Antonio Stars (WNBA), Austin Spurs (NBA Development League), San Antonio FC (USL) and also manages the day-to-day operations of the AT&T Center and Toyota Field.

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