San Antonio FC Blanked By Phoenix In Regular Season Road Finale
Dennis’ early strike hands SAFC another frustrating defeat as scoring drought continues.
PHOENIX – San Antonio FC’s playoff push hit another snag Saturday night, falling 1-0 to Phoenix Rising FC at Phoenix Rising Stadium in a match where chances were scarce and finishing again proved difficult.
Why it matters: SAFC has now gone 473 minutes without scoring a goal and is 0-4-1 in its last five matches.
“It was a disappointing match. We made one mistake, and we end up losing the game,” Llamosa said. It’s about us making mistakes. That’s something that’s happened lately in our games, and we need, as a team, to get rid of those mistakes.”
Phoenix capitalizes early
Phoenix didn’t waste time finding the back of the net. In the 12th minute, midfielder Charlie Dennis found space in the box after a pass from Darius Johnson, turning and firing past goalkeeper Richard Sánchez to give the hosts the only goal they’d need.
San Antonio nearly responded before halftime through Jimmy Medranda, whose well-hit volley off a Jorge Hernández corner drifted just wide of the post. That would be as close as SAFC came all night to pulling level.
San Antonio’s attack stalls again
The second half brought more frustration for Llamosa’s side. Despite controlling long stretches of possession, San Antonio couldn’t break through Phoenix’s back line.
SAFC managed just five total shots — and none on target in the second half. Forwards Fabian Garcia and Juan Agudelo were non-factors, while Phoenix’s back three kept the visitors to the perimeter for most of the match.
“We know it’s not easy to play four games in a row away from home. It’s difficult,” Llamosa said. “Earlier in the season, we got good results away, but going four away games back-to-back-to-back is difficult, especially having a lot of guys out with injuries.”
Running out of time
The result for San Antonio raises more questions than answers. Once known for late-season surges, SAFC has now gone over a month without a win and looks like a shadow of its championship self despite lifting the silverware only two years ago.
With just one regular-season match remaining, Carlos Llamosa’s squad must rediscover its scoring touch quickly — or risk seeing its playoff hopes fade away and risk being on the outside looking in.
“We know that three points was going to put us in a really important position, but I think looking at the table, where we’re at now, it’s still in our hands, so we’ll come back at home next weekend and it’ll be a really important game,” midfielder Luke Haakenson said.
Up next:
San Antonio FC is now 10-12-7 (37 points) on the season and will return to the pitch next Saturday for the regular season finale at Toyota Field against the El Paso Locomotive at 7:30 p.m. CT.
