El Paso Locomotive FC (West-7, 10-10-5, 35 points) found itself back in the win column on Saturday evening after picking up a 2-0 win against Hartford Athletic, snapping a five-game losing, 10-game winless streak.

Aaron Gomez would give El Paso the lead in the 15′, sneaking past Hartford’s defense to find Petar Petrovic’s deflected shot in the air and head the ball in.

Hartford would pick up the intensity on offense looking to find an equalizer, but El Paso’s defense remained disciplined to limit Hartford to just one big chance in the first half, the only one on target the entire match. In the second half, Locomotive’s defense held strong once again, bringing Hartford’s first half xG of 0.92 down to 0.19 and winning 9-of-12 tackles to deny Hartford any shots on target.

Petar Petrovic would double the lead in the 69′, hitting the target beautifully off a free kick just outside the 18-yard box to help Locomotive return home with the three points.

FORECAST: 79ºF, clear skies  

ATTENDANCE: 5,193

TEAM NOTES    

  • With the win tonight, Locomotive has snapped its 5-game losing,10-game winless streak.
  • Midfielder Petar Petrovic scored his fifth goal of the season and moves up to second in the club’s 2023 scoring leaderboard.
  • Forward Aaron Gomez scored his fourth goal of the season, joining Denys Kostyshyn as the joint-third top scorer for El Paso this campaign.
  • Defender Noah Dollenmayer made his Locomotive debut with his start in tonight’s match, playing the full 90′. He also recorded three clearances and won back possession six times. 
  • Midfielder and El Paso native Louis “Chapa” Herrera donned the captain’s armband for Locomotive to start tonight’s match, the first time he has done so in his professional career.
  • Locomotive are now 6-3-3 when playing on the road.

SCORING SUMMARY    

  • ELP 1 – Aaron Gomez 15′
  • ELP 2 – Petar Petrovic 69′

LINEUPS     

ELP – (4-4-2) Benny Diaz, Noah Dollenmayer, Erik McCue, Marc Navarro, Miles Lyons, Petar Petrovic (Chris Garcia), Louis Herrera – C (Diego Abarca), Liam Rose, Denys Kostyshyn (Emmanuel Sonupe), Aaron Gomez, Ricardo Zacarias (Nick Hinds)

Subs Not Used: Javier Garcia, Jose Carrillo, Luis Moreno

HFD – (5-3-2) Joe Rice, Triston Hodge (Andre Lewis), Conor McGlynn, Robin Lapert, Matt Sheldon (Dren Dobruna), Edgardo Rito, Prince Saydee, Juan Pablo Torres (Kembo Kibato), Danny Barrera, Elvis Amoh (Luke Merrill), Antoine Hoppenot (Niall Logue)

Subs Not Used: Richard Sanchez, Daniel Bloyou

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY    

  • ELP – Noah Dollenmayer (Yellow) 19′, Liam Rose (Yellow) 48′, Miles Lyons (Yellow) 84′
  • HFD – Juan Pablo Torres (Yellow) 10′, Triston Hodge (Yellow) 54′

MATCH STATS: ELP | HFD 

GOALS: 2|0   
ASSISTS: 0|0    
POSS. %: 42|58   
SHOTS: 14|17   
SHOTS ON GOAL: 4|1   
SAVES: 1|2   
FOULS: 11|19   
OFFSIDES: 1|3    
CORNERS: 4|5   

UP NEXT: Saturday, September 2 vs Monterey Bay FC. Kickoff at 7:30 p.m. MT at Southwest University Park. El Paso Locomotive FC celebrate its fifth annual Noche de Locos with a Western Conference battle against Monterey Bay FC, who El Paso met earlier this season in a 0-0 draw on the road. The first 1,500 fans through the gates, which open at 6:30 p.m. MT, will receive a free Noche de Locos jersey, designed by local artist Patrick Gabaldon. Tickets are available for purchase online at eplocomotivefc.com/tickets, by calling (915) 235-GOAL or by texting (915) 666-2005.