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San Antonio FC

San Antonio FC Tops Antigua Gfc 2-0 in International Preseason Friendly

February 25, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
San Antonio FC News Release


SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio FC picked up a 2-0 win in its first preseason match open to the public, defeating Guatemalan side Antigua GFC at Toyota Field Saturday.

Luke Haakenson struck first for San Antonio, chesting down a pass from Jorge Hernandez and striking from distance to put SAFC up early in the 10th minute.

Kendall McIntosh, Mohamed Omar and Bura Nogueira took the pitch for the second half alongside SAFC Pro Academy players. Omar capitalized off a set piece opportunity to double SAFC's lead in the 57th minute, while McIntosh made a fingertip save in the final 10 minutes to preserve the team's first clean sheet of the year.

Next Up

San Antonio FC cap off its preseason slate Saturday, March 2, hosting Austin FC II in a closed-door friendly. The 2024 regular season presented by Toyota will open against Loudoun United Saturday, March 9 at Toyota Field. Tickets are on sale now at SanAntonioFC.com or on the SAFC app.

Scoring Summary:

SAFC: 1-0, Luke Haakenson (Assisted by Jorge Hernandez) 10'

SAFC: 2-0, Mohamed Omar (Assisted by Bura Nogueira) 57'

Attendance: 4,683

SAFC Starting XI: Pablo Sisniega, Lucas Silva, Shannon Gomez, Mitchell Taintor, Kendall Burks, Carter Manley, Luke Haakenson, Mohammed Abu, Kevon Lambert, Jorge Hernandez, Santiago Patiño

Quotes:

Head Coach Alen Marcina

(On the team's performance...)

"I'm proud of the guys' commitment to execute the game model principles. Essentially that's what we are seeking and searching for in preseason. It's less about the result and more about us and developing that team identity. I'm really, really proud that we got to showcase that in front of our fans. I did say prior to the start of preseason that we've evolved our game model. I think everybody saw it. We dominated with the ball and we dominated without the ball, so we're pleased but plenty of room for growth ahead."

(On having four different goal scorers in preseason...)

"Very proud of them all. It's good to see that you have a number of different players that can put the ball in the back of the net. That makes us very, very dangerous when you can't only hone in on one or two players."

(On the team's evolved style...)

"If you look at data over the last four years, we are the number one team in the Western Conference for most wins, most points, so it would be silly to remove the foundational principles. However, I do believe personally every three, four years you want to evolve, so the challenge was how can we be better with the ball. That's what we're working on this year, and there's gonna be some growing pains for some of the guys. They have to break some habits and then learn some new ones, but that's part of the process. The guys have done fantastic thus far, and you know, we still have a long ways to go, though."

Midfielder Luke Haakenson

(On connecting with Hernandez for his first goal...)

"Jorge picks up great spots, credit to him. The pass was incredible and puts me in a great spot. I've really enjoyed playing with him so far in preseason and I'm sure we'll be able to connect like that as the season goes on."

(On the team building cohesion during preseason...)

"I would say actually if you look at our squad, there's really no reason with the amount of experience that we have that we shouldn't be putting it together this quick. You look at the quality that we have, where guys have played, where they're coming from and the experience, you know, I would almost expect us to be at this point. But it does feel easy and you know, I'm excited. I think we got one more game next weekend to get ready, but all eyes are on that first weekend official game, so building towards that."

Midfielder Mohamed Omar

(On what led up to his goal...)

"I just kind of took a chance and went on the blind side of my defender and the ball happened to get there, and yeah, just a tap-in, but I thought it was a good delivery and just good from the team as a whole."

(On the team's overall performance...)

"Honestly, I thought it was a really good performance from the whole team. From the first group in the first half to the second group that came on, I really felt like we kept the momentum going. There wasn't really a drop off in the second half, and that was really great to see ... It's really encouraging to see a lot of the things we've been working on in preseason coming together into one unified performance."

(On the academy players' growth...)

"I think it all comes down to them and their mentality, I think. Alen's been preaching a champion-minded mentality for us all preseason, and that's not just with the first team; that's through the academy as well. And a lot of those boys you know, credit to them, they all came out and performed really well tonight."

# # SanAntonioFC.com # #

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