El Paso Locomotive (5-6-2, 17 points, West-5) takes a point on the road following a 2-2 draw with defending USL Championship Title-Winners Orange County SC.
Forward Lucho Solignac recorded his sixth of the season to tie for first in the league in goals scored. Midfielder Diego Luna recorded his fourth goal of the season to help secure the point. Locos controlled the opening half, keeping majority of possession in the Orange County half. The packed in OC defense however kept Locomotive out of the back of the net, despite a flurry of corner kicks. While Locomotive continued its signature press, a play going the other way opened for Orange County just shy of the half hour mark.
Milan Iloski took his chance with a shot that bounced across the grass, taking one last big bounce over the unsuspecting Goalkeeper Evan Newton to open the scoring. Locomotive would find the equalizer early in the second half, setting off a counter attack that resulted in Solignac easily converting. As the match progressed, Locomotive seemed sure to to come away from California for the full three points, with Luna putting the El Paso side in the lead in the 70th minute. Orange County found their second shortly after, tapping home a goal after a scramble in the box. While Luna nearly earned another goal through the legs of OC goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky, a big save would end the match at two goals apiece and point for each. UP NEXT: El Paso Locomotive takes on Las Vegas Lights FC for the second time in the 2022 USL Championship season. The match is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff from Cashman Field in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, May 27. It will be broadcast live on ESPN+
FULL TIME:@orangecountysc – 2@eplocomotivefc – 2#OCvELP | https://t.co/QS52ZvmJ8F pic.twitter.com/3pUIURXtAw
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) May 22, 2022
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN OC: Milan Iloski (Seth Casiple), 75th minute: Iloski got hold of the ball at the top of the 18-yard line following a run down the lefthand side. With a quick shot, Iloski’s ball bounced across the grass, taking one unlucky high bounce over Evan Newton to open the scoring. ELP: Lucho Solignac (Aaron Gomez), 52nd minute: Beginning with a textbook sliding tackle from Eder Borelli, Locomotive took off on a counter attack that left Gomez and Solignac going 2-on-1 against an OC defender. Gomez passed the ball to Solignac who had open space, taking a fast shot through OC’s ‘keeper Patrick Rakovsky to equalize. ELP: Diego Luna (Lucho Solignac), 70th minute: Latching to a long ball down to the end of the pitch, Lucho expertly pulled the goalkeeper off his line before laying it off to Luna. With an open net ahead of him, Luna taps in the Locomotive go-ahead goal. OC: Erick Torres, 78th minute: Following a scramble in the box, an Orange County attacker attempted the scissor kick that he could not quite get the right touch on. The ball deflected off a Locomotive defender and into the path of Torres, who shot it into the net to round out the match. NOTES:
– Forward Lucho Solignac recorded his sixth goal of the season for El Paso Locomotive FC. The Argentine striker is now tied for first in the 2022 USL Championship Golden Boot race. – Midfielder Diego Luna recorded his fourth goal of the season, giving the Locos the short lived advantage in the 70th minute. – For the third straight time at Championship Soccer Stadium, El Paso Locomotive and Orange County split the points. This is the second straight match to end on a 2-2 draw.– Locomotive continues moving up on the Western Conference table. The point on the road moves El Paso above Las Vegas Lights to 5th in the West. Match: El Paso Locomotive at Orange County SCDate: May 21, 2022Venue: Championship Soccer Stadium; Irvine, CaliforniaWeather: 66F and partly cloudy Scoring Summary 1 2 FEl Paso Locomotive 0 2 2Orange County SC 1 1 2 OC – Milan Iloski (Seth Casiple), 30’ELP – Lucho Solignac (Aaron Gomez), 52’ELP – Diego Luna (Lucho Solignac), 70’OC – Erick Torres, 78’ Lineups:
El Paso Locomotive FC (4-3-3): Evan Newton; Eder Borelli, Andrew Fox, Yuma, Shavon John-Brown, Richie Ryan, Eric Calvillo (Dylan Mares, 77’), Diego Luna, Nick Hinds (Aaron Gomez, 23’), Ricardo Zacarias (Christiano Francois, 77’), Lucho Solignac Subs not used: Philipp Beigl, Matt Bahner, Ander Egiluz, Noe Coutino Orange County SC (4-2-3-1): Patrick Rakovsky; Michael Orozco, Albi Skendi, Hunter Gorskie (Sean Okoli, 73’), Alex Villanueva, Mikko Kuningas, Daniel Pedersen, Seth Casiple (Tommy McCabe, 67’), Brent Richards, Milan Iloski (Oluwakorede Osundina, 86’), Erick Torres Subs not used: Colin Shutier, Tony Rocha, Jonathan Gomez, Sunheon Hwang
Stats Summary: ELP | OC
Shots: 10 | 13Shots on Goal: 5 | 3Saves: 1 | 3Corner Kicks: 6 | 6Fouls: 12 | 16Offside: 2 | 2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
ELP – Nick Hinds (Caution), 17’OC – Hunter Gorskie (Caution), 25’OC – Daniel Pedersen (Caution), 43’ELP – Yuma (Caution), 55’ELP – Aaron Gomez (Caution), 87
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