When he took over as El Paso Locomotive Head Coach last May, there was not a lot of fun to be had for Wilmer Cabrera.

“Last year, when I watched El Paso, I think I sweated two pounds [each game],” the veteran coach said this week. “It was heavy, and it was nervous, and it was, you know, I didn’t want to be there.”

This year, that’s all changed. Locomotive is chugging along as the side has returned to contention in the USL Championship’s Western Conference with a style and an outlook that’s brought positive expectations to the Borderplex after the club’s recent ups and downs.

• HITTING THE NET: The starkest contrast between this year and last has been in front of goal. After finishing with a league-fewest 27 goals in 34 regular season games a season ago, Locomotive has recorded 16 goals in nine league outings so far this campaign.

• SETTING THE TABLE: That there’s been a bounce in production shouldn’t be a surprise – El Paso’s 8.8% shot conversion rate last year accounted for the side sitting 11 goals short of its 38.28 Expected Goals mark – but the rise has also been boosted by Locomotive creating better quality chances this season. Locomotive is averaging 8.11 shots inside the penalty area per game this year, up from 6.79 in 2024, and averaging 0.11xG per shot as a result.

• ALL IN PROPORTION: Locomotive has also been less hasty in pulling the trigger from range this season. Currently the side sports a 67/33 percent ratio on shots inside the penalty area compared to shots outside the box. Last season that ratio sat at a 57/43 percent ratio, another indicator of the improved opportunities the side is creating.

Leading the way has been Andy Cabrera, who reunited with his father in El Paso late last season after a season competing in Germany. The 24-year-old not only scored the first hat trick in Locomotive’s history in a notable 3-0 victory against Derby Del Camino Real rival New Mexico United two weeks ago, he’s also now tied for the lead in the Golden Boot with seven tallies – a mark that has already surpassed Amando Moreno’s team-high of six goals last campaign.

The improvement has seen the side move into a top-four position in the West going into Friday night’s contest against Indy Eleven at Southwest University Park (9 p.m. ET | ESPN+) and rank fifth in the league overall at a 13.96 Expected Points mark in American Soccer Analysis’ ratings, a positive indicator of the club’s overall form.

Most important of all to Wilmer Cabrera, the side is going about its work in a way that regardless of result gives the team a chance to feel positive about the way it’s approaching each game.

“I think it's important to feel that way,” said Cabrera. “Against Austin [in a 3-2 loss in the U.S. Open Cup], I really enjoyed the way we played. You don’t want to lose, but listen, if we have to lose playing well, it’s better than if we lose hanging from the goal and kicking the ball far. That's not the way I feel we have to [play].

“For me, it’s let’s try to play, and if we play well, mostly we’re going to win. Sometimes, we’re going to lose, sometimes we’re going to tie, but at least when we finish, we can walk with our heads up thinking that we’re doing something that is correct.”