Sports stats



USL San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC Earns Three Crucial Points in Seven-Goal Thriller at Portland

October 12, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
San Antonio FC News Release


PORTLAND - San Antonio FC (12-13-8) beat Portland Timbers 2 (10-14-8) 4-3 at Providence Park on Friday night. A goal from midfielder Brian Gomez and the club's first-ever hattrick from forward Ever Guzman earned the Alamo City club three crucial points on the road.

"It's always good to win on the road and this was our last away match of the season in a wonderful stadium," SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell said. "It was good to see our players respond after last week and come out here and give a good, gutsy performance."

SAFC opened the scoring in the sixth minute when midfielder Cristian Parano found Guzman in on goal with a through-ball, which the striker slotted past goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic for the 1-0 lead. Guzman then doubled the club's lead in the 12th minute after finishing with a brilliant chip over Ivacic and into the net.

The Timbers narrowed the gap in the 25th minute after Cristian Ojeda buried a free kick past goalkeeper Matthew Cardone, who recorded six saves on the night to tie his season-high tally and mark the seventh time this season the San Antonio native has recorded at least five saves in a match.

The Alamo City club extended its lead in the 39th minute when midfielder Walter Restrepo found Gomez running into the box with an aerial ball, which the Argentinian brought down and finished far-post to make it 3-1. SAFC struck again in the 67th minute when Guzman finished a pass from Restrepo to score the club's first hattrick in franchise history, adding to Guzman's all-time single-season scoring record for the club, which he set after scoring 11 goals during the 2018 campaign.

"I'm very happy [to score the first hattrick]," saod Guzman. "It comes down to hard work by everybody and I was lucky enough to finish the chances. This is the second hat trick I've ever scored and it'll always be special to score one."

The Timbers 2 then scored in quick succession in the 86th minute and in stoppage time, but were ultimately unable to find an equalizer.

San Antonio FC will return to USL Championship action at Toyota Field on Saturday, Oct. 19 as the club hosts Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at 7:30 p.m. in its last match of the regular season. The night will be a Bud Light $1 Drink Night and feature an 'Extra Time' postgame party as well as a postgame fireworks show.

Scoring Summary:

SAFC: 1-0, Ever Guzman (Cristian Parano assist) 6'

SAFC: 2-0, Ever Guzman (Jack Barmby assist) 12'

T2: 2-1, Cristian Ojeda 25'

SAFC: 3-1, Brian Gomez (Walter Restrepo assist) 39'

SAFC: 4-1, Ever Guzman (Walter Restrepo assist) 67'

T2: 4-2, Giovanni Calixtro (Eryk Williamson assist) 86'

T2: 4-3, Ryan Sierakowski (Todd Wharton assist) 90'

Disciplinary Summary:

T2: Yellow Card (Eryk Williamson) 23'

T2: Yellow Card (Max Ornstil) 73'

T2: Yellow Card (Todd Wharton) 77'

Attendance: 1,305

SAFC Starting XI: GK: Matthew Cardone; D: Kai Greene, Eby Ackon, Moises Hernandez; M: Pecka (c) (Rafa Castillo 87'), Michael Lahoud, Cristian Parano (Jose Gallegos 45'), Jack Barmby F: Walter Restrepo, Brian Gomez, Ever Guzman

Substitutions Not Used: Jonathan Viscosi, Johnny Fenwick, Pascal Eboussi, Ryan Roushandel

Postgame Notes:

San Antonio FC defeated the Portland Timbers 2 4-3 to split the season series with T2...SAFC scored four goals for the third time this season in the win...the loss officially eliminated the Timbers 2 from playoff contention

San Antonio FC forward Ever Guzman was named the SWBC Man of the Match after scoring the first hattrick in team history...the three-goal game marked the first for a professional soccer player in San Antonio since Pablo Campos recorded a hattrick in 2012 while playing for the San Antonio Scorpions in the NASL...Guzman also recorded at least two goals for the third time in his SAFC career, marking the most by any player in team history...the Mexico native has now scored eight goals this season and has a club-high 23 all-time for SAFC

San Antonio FC midfielder Walter Restrepo recorded two assists on the night, which give him eight on the year, leading all SAFC players...Restrepo has now scored or assisted in seven of his last nine SAFC matches

SAFC midfielder Jack Barmby recorded an assist in 90 minutes against his former teammates in Portland...Barmby added two key passes and a 76 percent passing accuracy in the game

San Antonio FC now has a record five players with at least seven goals this season (Ever Guzman, Jack Barmby, Cristian Parano, Frank Lopez, Brian Gomez)...the previous record in a single season was one player with at least seven which the club achieved in both 2017 and 2018

SAFC midfielder Cristian Parano recorded his sixth assist of the season, which ranks second on the team

Check out the San Antonio FC Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 12, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central