SAN ANTONIO — After a recording-breaking season a year ago, San Antonio FC opened up their 2022 campaign with a 1-0 shutout victory over league newbies Detroit City FC in front of 6,033 fans at Toyota Field on a chilly Saturday night.
The victory sees SAFC keep a streak of three-straight shutout wins on opening night intact and move their overall record in season openers to 5-1-1.
In case you missed it, here are three points from SAFC’s win over Detroit:
Getting the clean sheet
Anytime you hold the opponent off the scoreboard, it is a good night for the defense and the goalkeeper. Goalkeeper Cristian Bonilla stopped two shots and earned the clean sheet in his SAFC debut.
There’s no doubt that San Antonio’s backline and defense will be one of the major keys for the club as they pursue another run to a USL Championship.
“I felt like this game was amazing as the first game, for us to win this game,” Bonilla said. “For the fans, the stadium, and the city. I hope to be here for a long time.”
New attacking line
With high-caliber players like Marcus Epps and Jose Gallegos on to new adventures, San Antonio will now look for a one-two offensive punch.
Santiago Patino missed Saturday’s game with an injury but it appears he may have a new scoring mate in Fabien Garcia.
Garcia scored the lone goal of the match in the second half after he headed a cross from Justin Dhillon in the 68th minute.
CHAOS IN THE BUNKER ‼️@DhillonJustin with the beauty of a chip over the keeper for Fabien García to finish 😤#Defend210 | 1-0 pic.twitter.com/5AmNuySMeA
— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) March 13, 2022
I felt like something was going to happen,” Garcia said of his goal. “So I just followed the ball … I was just at the right time at the right spot. I can’t explain it, sometimes you just get lucky but I’ll take it.”
A small stepping stone
Saturday’s match was rough in the first half but both teams stepped things up in the second half. Despite the win, San Antonio has things to work on if they want to be contenders in 2022.
Luckily for them, they have a solid chance to learn from Saturday’s win as they hit the road for the next two weeks.
“I thought our guys put in a solid performance,” SAFC Head Coach Alen Marcina said. “We were cohesive, we were ultra-competitive, demonstrated our resilience, and earned the three points.”
UP NEXT:
San Antonio FC is now 1-0-0 (3 points) on the season and will return to the pitch next Saturday when they face LA Galaxy II (0-1-0) at 6 p.m.
