San Antonio FC Draws Phoenix Rising FC, 1-1
USL San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC Draws Phoenix Rising FC, 1-1

Published on May 9, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
San Antonio FC News Release


PHOENIX - San Antonio FC earned a point on the road Saturday night, drawing Phoenix Rising FC 1-1 to remain atop the Western Conference standings.

Brought on as an early sub, Dmitrii Erofeev opened the scoring just before halftime, finishing off a ball from Emil Cuello in stoppage time to give SAFC the lead heading into the break.

San Antonio held Phoenix scoreless for 80 minutes but before the hosts found a late equalizer to send each team home with a point.

Scoring Summary:

SA: Dmitrii Erofeev (Assisted by Emil Cuello) 45+3'

PHX: Adrian Pelayo 80'

Next Up

San Antonio FC is back in Prinx Tires USL Cup play next Saturday, May 16, travelling to visit reigning USL League One champions One Knoxville SC. SAFC sits in third place in Group 3 heading into the second round of group play. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The 2026 season is presented by Toyota.

Postgame Notes:

SAFC moves to 4-1-5 on the season with 17 points, remaining in first place in the Western Conference standings.

SAFC is unbeaten in their last 44 USL Championship matches when leading at halftime (38-0-6) in a streak dating back to October 2021.

San Antonio is also undefeated in its last 11 matches when scoring first dating back to May 11, 2025.

Midfielder Dmitrii Erofeev becomes the third SAFC player to net multiple goals this season with his second score.

Defender Emil Cuello tallied his first assist for the club since his previous stint in 2021.

Midfielder Lucio Berron made his season debut for the team, playing 20 minutes in his return from injury.

Goalkeeper Joey Batrouni made three saves in the match, good for second place in the league.

SAFC Starting XI: Joey Batrouni, Emil Cuello (Nelson Flores Blanco 62'), Mitchell Taintor (Captain), Alex Crognale (Danny Barbir 61'), Tiago Suarez, Akeem O'Connor-Ward, Mikey Maldonado, Curt Calov (Lucio Berron 70'), Jorge Hernandez, Cristian Parano (Dmitrii Erofeev 20' (Diogo Pacheco 71')), Christian Sorto

Substitutions Not Used: Santiago Patiño, Richard Sanchez

Disciplinary Summary:

PHX: Yellow Card (Adrian Pelayo) 34'

PHX: Red Card (Charlie Dennis) 45'

SA: Yellow Card (Mitchell Taintor) 48'

SA: Yellow Card (Nelson Flores Blanco) 63'

PHX: Yellow Card (Collin Smith) 66'

SA: Yellow Card (Diogo Pacheco) 70'

PHX: Yellow Card (Ihsan Sacko) 90+3'

Quotes:

Head Coach Carlos Llamosa

(On the result)

"It's a tough draw. I know it's a point away, but to play with a man up for more than 45 minutes, we should do better managing the ball. We need to work more on how to keep the ball, how to close those games and manage those games in a better way and to not give up goals on set pieces. It's the second game in a row that we give up a late goal on a set piece, so we continue working. We appreciate the point away. I'm gonna give it to my players that they fought in a tough environment. It was 95, 96 degrees and they ran a lot for 90 minutes and they never gave up. They pushed until the last second, so I have to give my players that."

(On the team's offense)

"I have full confidence in the guys who play up front. They have a lot of quality and they're good finishers. Sooner or later, when they start putting those chances away, they're going to get a lot of goals for us."

(On the team's mental response)

"We're still positive. There's a lot of things that we need to continue working on, a lot of things that we need to do better, but we take the point. We appreciate the point that keeps us on top of the table still, but in the future we need to close those games with three points."

Midfielder Lucio Berron

(On the draw)

"I feel we actually lost the game today because of the advantage we had with being a man up We should've won this game, especially being a man up for the whole second half, but we've got to just learn and get better, get stronger."

(On returning from injury)

"I feel good coming back and helping the guys at least get a point. It's great being back with the guys, fighting. I missed this feeling a lot and it means the world to me to be fighting next to my brothers."

# # SanAntonioFC.com # #

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from May 9, 2026


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