Locomotive set to begin playoff journey with home game against Oakland
The El Paso Locomotive accomplished quite a bit in the just-completed USL Championship regular season.
They won the Mountain Division, racked up the third best record in the 31-team league, built confidence, earned a first-round home playoff game against the Oakland Roots Friday night.
El Paso is among the favorites to win the USL Championship title.
The way of American soccer, however, is that 32 games of excellence won’t matter if El Paso has a bad 90 minutes Friday. The playoffs are a second season, the one that matters, and it’s here.
“It's been a great season but none of it matters any more,” Locomotive coach Mark Lowry said. ”All the good times, bad times, clean sheets, goals scored, goals conceded, none of it matters anymore.
“We finished top of our group, we had a good season, but now it's fully focused on beating Oakland Roots on Friday. That's all that matters at this point.”
Much is working on El Paso’s side. The Locomotive were 23 points better than the Roots in the regular season, which is why as the No. 1 team in the Mountain they earned a game against the fourth and final qualifier from the Pacific.
The Locomotive have also risen to this moment before. In the previous two seasons, their first in the USL, they won two playoff games to reach the Western Conference finals and their seed indicates they are favored to do that again.
“I think we walk in with a lot of confidence, a lot of excitement,” defender Andrew Fox said. “It's been a really positive year for us and it all leads toward the playoffs.
“You wait for this moment from the first game of the season. All guns blazing, let's see what we can do on Friday night. We're all very excited for it.”
Said midfielder Chapa Herrera: “We've worked for nine months already, we worked the whole season for these moments. I think the team is mentally ready, we're going to come out strong and focused to get a good result for the people here in El Paso.”
In the strange nature of a season reconfigured to minimize travel for COVID issues, El Paso has never played Oakland, a first-year USL franchise.
One of their key players is midfielder and Santa Teresa native Memo Diaz, who left the Locomotive in the offseason in search of more playing time. A part-time player in El Paso, he has played in every game for Oakland and has 25 starts. He is one of Herrera’s closest friends.
The Locomotive counter with an experienced team, one with a history of playoff success, coming off its best season. They are also getting healthy after a rash of injuries late in the year.
“Experience in big games has always mattered,” Lowry said. “You learn every season what it takes to win playoff games, playoff games are different than regular season games. Totally different.
“More mistakes are made, goals are scored right at the start of games, right at the end of games just because of concentration, anxiety and those things.
“Managing those moments emotionally in the playoffs is the most important thing. We have a group that is more experienced now, the right mentality, winners in the locker room who will approach it the right way.”
What El Paso hopes will be a month-long journey begins Friday.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
Oakland Roots at El Paso Locomotive
What, when, where: A USL Championship first-round playoff game, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Southwest University Park
TV: ESPN+
Records: El Paso was 18-4-10, 64 points, 1st in Mountain Division; Oakland was 11-13-8, 4th in Pacific Division
Tickets: $17-51 at eplocomotive.com or at Southwest University Park
At stake: Winner gets winner of Orange County vs. Colorado Springs in Western Conference semifinals next weekend. El Paso would host.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Locomotive set to begin playoff journey against Oakland Roots
