SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio FC closed out the USL Championship regular season with a 3-3 draw against Indy Eleven at Toyota Field on Saturday night.
The Story: SAFC spent most of Saturday night playing catch-up as they fell behind two goals twice in the match but would still manage to preserve a point thanks to a second-half push.
- Jack Blake and Sebastián Guenzatti put the visitors up 2-0 with goals in the 9th and 37th minute respectively.
- SAFC took some momentum into the second half after Santiago Patiño put home a penalty following a foul being called on Indy’s Younes Boudadi in first-half stoppage time.
- Adrian Diz Pe gave the visitors their two-goal lead back in the second half with a tipped ball past SAFC goalkeeper Nick Marsman in the 53rd minute to make it 3-1.
- San Antonio would score the next two goals to level the match. Tani Oluwaseyi picked up a loose ball and tapped it home in the 57th minute and Mitch Taintor added one in the 87th minute.
“No one can take away this team’s fight, this team’s resilience, they’ve demonstrated all year,” SAFC Head Coach Alen Marcina said. “Those are important behaviors and actions, come playoff time in particular.”
Costly result: SAFC’s draw combined with wins by Orange County SC and San Diego Loyal means San Antonio will finish the regular season in fourth place in the Western Conference.
- San Antonio will host the fifth-seed Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, a rematch of the 2022 Conference Final.
- In the 2023 season, SAFC went 1-0-1 against Colorado, winning 1-0 at Toyota Field in March and drawing 1-1 in Colorado last month.
- SAFC had just one win in their final 10 matches but had seven draws. Meanwhile, Colorado has gone unbeaten in their last seven matches heading into the playoffs.
“I think playoffs are a completely different animal,” Taintor said. “We’re fortunate enough to play at home again, and the fans are going to give us a really good boost. We’re not looking back on the past, regardless of what the run of games was in the last 10 games, we’ve got to move forward.”
Up next: San Antonio FC closed out the regular season 14-6-14 (56 points) and will return to the pitch next Saturday to face Colorado in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
