Two goals by Rafa Castillo was not enough to get three points on the road. Maybe it was the weather delay around the 75th minute that caused the loss. SAFC lost in a back and forth match 4-3.
San Antonio fell behind early 2-0, six minutes into the match and it looked all but over. Rafa Castillo took charge and scored two marvelous goals to bring it back even. Walter Restrepo sliced and diced through the defense to score SAFC’s third goal and gave SAFC hope it would walk away with three points from Tulsa and find themselves into the playoff mix. Just before the half a foul by Lahoud in the box lead to a converted penalty. Making it 3-3 at the break.
A small thunderstorm popped up south of Tulsa caused a delay due to lightning strike concern. After a 50 minute delay, play resumed and in the 87th Rodrigo da Costa sucked in the entire San Antonio FC defense to his side leaving the whole left exposed where Fredlin Mompremier was able to make a clear run and take a shot past Cardone. That was the difference maker and match winner.
Observations: San Antonio FC is Jekel and Hyde. A club that plays well against the top tier teams but fall flat against the bottom of the table teams. Rafa has started the last three matches and been a factor in all three. A goal and his free kick was deflected into an own goal versus OKC, recorded an assist in LA and two goals in Tulsa. When Rafa is subbed, SAFC turns into a passive aggressive team unsure what they want to do. Rafa has been directly and indirectly involved in four of San Antonio’s eight goals in the last three matches. SAFC has scored zero once Rafa walks off the pitch.
Now what: It has been a frustrating season for fans and some are placing the blame on Darren Powell’s shoulders for the inconsistency of the team. 2019 has also seen it’s fair share of injuries, including two season ending ones and four players (Amer Didic, Carson Price, Ethan Bryant, Billy Forbes) leaving throughout the season. Despite of all that, SAFC is only one point behind El Paso who is sitting in tenth place. Besides 2017, this is the same old song and dance. Down to the last few hand few of games sitting on the outside, fighting for a playoff position. If there is a bright spot, the only tough match on paper in the remaining schedule is Saturday’s match versus Fresno at home and gets easier from there. The last three matches are against teams below them in the table; Las Vegas, Portland and Colorado Springs. Portland is tied on points with a game in hand, Vegas is three points behind and Colorado Springs are well out of it. The schedule seems in favor of SAFC on finishing strong and making it to the playoffs.
Soy San Antonio Fútbol 