SAN ANTONIO – After suffering their first loss of the season last weekend, San Antonio FC (9-1-3) officially clinched their spot in the 2020 USL Championship Playoffs with a 3-2 win over Austin Bold FC (3-3-6) at Toyota Field on Wednesday night.
The win also clinches Group D for San Antonio, who will face either the El Paso Locomotive and FC Tulsa in the first round of the playoffs.
“I am incredibly proud of the guys,” said SAFC Head Coach Alen Marcina. “We were confident we would get a response from these players. These are players made of grit. We had a tough loss against El Paso with a penalty conceded and an own goal. The guys battled tonight against a good team competing for a place in the playoffs. You knew they were going to bring it today, and our guys got the result, so I am incredibly proud of them.”
San Antonio got on the scoreboard early as Luis Solignac notched his eighth goal of the season just 50 seconds in with a high shot towards the net, putting the hosts up a goal. The tally would stand as the lone goal of the opening 45 minutes.
The second half saw goals scored from both sides as the action picked up. Austin found the equalizer in the 50th minute after Sean McFarlane found Roberto Avila the score. SAFC responded with Cristian Parano’s curling shot to make it 2-1 in the 56th minute.
McFarlane leveled the match for Austin with a shot to the top corner of the net in the 62nd minute. SAFC took the lead for good just 10 minutes later after Jose Gallegos put home a low, far-post shot to make it 3-2.
“We get stronger and our chemistry gets better with each match, and I’m happy for that because we’re improving every day,” Parano said. “We understand that we can enjoy these moments, which is important but overall, we’re just happy to get the win.”
UP NEXT:
San Antonio FC is now 9-1-3 (30 points) on the season and will return to the pitch on Saturday night when they face the OKC Energy (1-5-6) at 8 p.m. from Toyota Field.
