San Antonio FC falls to New Mexico United on the road
SAFC squanders early lead for second time in a little over a month as it drops to seventh in the USL Western Conference.
For the second time in 32 days, San Antonio fell 2-1 on the road after being up 1-0 early.
New Mexico United scored twice before halftime and held on to hand San Antonio its third loss this season Saturday night in Albuquerque. It was New Mexico’s first win over San Antonio since October 20, 2021.
San Antonio (3-3-5, 14 points) fell to eighth in the Western Conference standings with the loss, their lowest place in the Western Conference standings at any point since the start of the Alen Marcina era in 2020. New Mexico United (7-2-1, 22 points) moved to the top of the conference with the win and improved to 4-0 at home this season.
“I think the guys gave a valiant effort,” Marcina said. “They fought to the very end. We had some good moments in the game. I’m optimistic with this group. They have each other’s backs and will continue to fight.”
San Antonio broke through for the first goal in the 21st minute when Kevon Lambert played a ball into the box that Luke Haakenson headed into the goal. It was Haakenson’s second goal of the season.
Haakenson’s first goal of the season came on April 27 at Miami, the last time until Saturday night that San Antonio had lost 2-1 after leading 1-0. Before that loss in Miami, it had been 1,302 days since San Antonio had lost a game after scoring first.
New Mexico equalized in the 35th minute when Nanan Houssou got on a loose ball in the San Antonio six-yard box and directed it into the goal with a right-footed shot.
Greg Hurst put the hosts in front with a right-footed shot into the top left corner from about 25 yards out in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time. That was enough for New Mexico, although they came close to a third goal a few times in the second half.
San Antonio had to shuffle its lineup before the game as Mulato started in place of Mohamed Omar. Mitchell Taintor also did not play after being a late add to the injured list.
Taintor and Omar joined six other members of the roster who were unavailable on Saturday due to injury. San Antonio was also without Jorge Hernandez, who was serving a one-game suspension after picking up two yellow cards in the club’s last game two weeks ago.
“It’s difficult when you’re working with fifty percent of the roster,” Marcina said. “We don’t make excuses. We know we will get the numbers back health-wise, and we know we are going to bring in some additional players as well. When that happens, we know we will meet our goals and objectives by the end of the season.”
San Antonio had a chance to equalize two minutes later but Juan Agudelo’s left-footed shot just missed to the left of the goal. That turned out to be San Antonio’s last shot on target of the night. San Antonio only had three shots in the second half and none on target.
The loss at New Mexico also snapped a two-game winning streak for San Antonio in Albuquerque. San Antonio will be home next weekend to face Memphis 901 FC. Memphis beat Pittsburgh 2-0 at home Saturday.
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