EL PASO, Texas – El Paso Locomotive FC (1-3-1, 4 points, West-6) split the points on the road with a 2-2 scoreline against FC Tulsa. Forward Luis “Lucho” Solignac scored both goals for El Paso and became the club’s all-time leading goal scorer (28 goals) in the regular season.
The match got off to a slow start, both sides going back and forth trying to find opportunities to get on the scoresheet first. Tulsa would be the first to break the deadlock in the 33rd minute, with Tulsa’s Rodrigo da Costa sending a ball over the hands of Locomotive goalkeeper Benny Diaz from just outside the penalty area.
However, Tulsa’s lead was short-lived. Five minutes later, forward Ricardo Zacarias regained possession of the ball at the corner of the 18-yard box and ran in towards the goal to force the goalkeeper off his line. Rather than taking the shot, Zacarias would send a short pass across to forward Luis “Lucho” Solignac, who slotted the ball into an open net.
Coming back out in the second half, a 68th minute passing error by the Tulsa backline resulted in Solignac regaining possession of the ball for El Paso. The ball eventually ended up at the feet of midfielder Eric Calvillo, who made a quick pass to an open Solignac. Controlling the ball with a single touch in the penalty box arc, Solignac shot a rocket with his left foot past the outstretched hands of Tulsa goalkeeper Austin Wormell.
Solignac’s second goal gave El Paso the lead and would see him become Locomotive’s all-time leading goal scorer in the USL Championship regular season with 28 goals, surpassing fellow forward Aaron Gomez (27).
Speaking of Gomez, the forward came into the match as a second-half substitute in the 62′. As a result, he became the first player in Locomotive history to make 100 appearances in the regular season.
All was lining up for El Paso to come back home with another win, but a heartbreaking stoppage time goal from Tulsa would deny Locomotive the three points.
Still, Los Locos remain undefeated in all competitions against FC Tulsa, with the record now at 3-0-3 (2-0-1 at ONEOK Field). Locomotive return to El Paso with a point and move up into sixth in the Western Conference.
FORECAST: 66ºF, clear skies
TEAM NOTES
- Gomez became the first Locomotive player in club history to make 100 regular season appearances. He is the all-time appearance leader in the regular season (100) and in all competitions (108).
- Solignac is now the club’s all-time leading goal scorer in regular season play (28), surpassing Gomez (27).
- Solignac is the first Locomotive player to score a brace in 2023 and Locomotive’s joint-top scorer this season with Ricardo Zacarias (2).
- Calvillo recorded his second assist of 2023. He currently leads El Paso’s assist leaderboard and is tied for first in the league in assists.
- Defender Miles Lyons recorded his first ever start for Locomotive and played the full 90 minutes.
- El Paso is still undefeated against FC Tulsa (3-0-2 all comps, 2-0-1 in Tulsa).
- El Paso Locomotive have scored in 4 of their 5 games, no team has done so more often in the USL Championship this season
- Locomotive have scored in their last 4 games (7 goals during the run) in the USL Championship, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 4 games from September 18 to October 12, 2022.
SCORING SUMMARY
- TUL 1 – Rodrigo da Costa (Moses Dyer) 33’
- ELP 1 – Luis Solignac (Ricardo Zacarias) 38’
- ELP 2 – Luis Solignac (Eric Calvillo) 68’
- TUL 2 – Moses Dyer (Marcus Epps) 90+1’
LINEUPS
ELP – Benny Diaz, Bence Pavkovics, Yuma – C, Eder Borelli (Nick Hinds), Miles Lyons, Eric Calvillo, Liam Rose, Petar Petrovic (Aaron Gomez), Denys Kostyshyn (Emmanuel Sonupe), Ricardo Zacarias, Luis Solignac
Subs Not Used: Diego Abarca, Erik McCue, Louis Herrera, Javier Garcia
TUL – Austin Wormell, Justin Malou (Rashid Tetteh), Blaine Ferri (Siad Haji), Marcus Epps, Collin Fernandez (Eric Bird), Rodrigo da Costa, Jorge Canales, Brett Levis, Bradley Bourgeois (Christopher Pearson), Moses Dyer, Dario Suarez (Milo Yosef)
Subs Not Used: Dallas Odle, Chase Bromstedt
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
- ELP – Denys Kostyshyn (Yellow Card) 49’; Luis Solignac (Yellow Card) 60’; Ricardo Zacarias (Yellow Card) 88’; Nick Hinds (Yellow Card) 90+2’
- TUL– Collin Fernandez (Yellow Card) 6’; Dario Suarez (Yellow Card) 40’; Bradley Bourgeois (Yellow Card) 67’
MATCH STATS: ELP | TUL
GOALS: 2|2
ASSISTS: 2|2
SHOTS: 14|8
SHOTS ON GOAL: 3|3
SAVES: 1|1
FOULS: 19|15
OFFSIDES: 0|3
CORNER KICKS: 4|0
UP NEXT: Wednesday, April 5 at Union Omaha. Kickoff 6 p.m. MT @ Morrison Stadium. Los Locos make the trip to Omaha, Nebraska for a second-round matchup in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, looking to get their first-ever victory in the historic tournament.
ON THE HORIZON: Saturday, April 8 vs Orange County SC. Kickoff 7:30 p.m. MT @ Southwest University Park, gates open at 6:30 p.m. MT. Purchase tickets here. Locomotive return home after a three-game road trip and will be giving away bucket hats to the first 1,500 fans who enter the stadium!
ADDITIONAL INFO
The full 2023 match schedule can be found HERE.
All El Paso Locomotive FC Saturday home matches in 2023 will be simulcast on KTSM.com and Estrella TV El Paso 9.2 All USL Championship regular season and playoff games will be available to stream on ESPN+ in 2023.
All tickets for 2023, including Individual Match, Season Tickets and Pick Six Membership are on sale now and are available for purchase online at eplocomotivefc.com/tickets or within the official mobile app.
Fans who would like to secure full season tickets for the 2023 season can lock in their season ticket membership online by clicking HERE, calling (915) 235-GOAL or texting (915) 666-2005. You can also call (915) 235-GOAL for more information on Group Outings and Premium Suites. El Paso Locomotive FC does offer military discounts, which can be purchased HERE.
To check out the full 2023 promotional schedule, click HERE.