RENO, Nev. – After picking up a win and a draw against its in-state rival earlier this season, Reno 1868 FC claimed the inaugural Silver State Cup in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Las Vegas Lights FC on Saturday night at Greater Nevada Field.

1868 FC held a one-goal advantage three separate times in the match, including in the 86th minute when Lindo Mfeka converted a Reno counterattack for his fourth goal of the season to give the hosts a 3-2 lead, but Las Vegas never stopped battling. Raul Mendiola beat his defender to Sammy Ochoa’s cross to tap home his second goal of the night from close range in the 90th minute as Lights FC picked up a hard-fought draw.

"At the end of the game, I told them I'm proud," Lights FC Head Coach Isidro Sánchez said. "After taking so many punches, so many times falling down, it's good to feel proud when you make good things happen. Three times, we came from behind in an away game against a very good team. We stuck to the plan tonight and were brave."

Reno Head Coach Ian Russell was disappointed to see his side concede late and drop two points, but with San Antonio FC falling earlier in the night it wasn't hard for the 1868 FC to pay respect to Lights FC, which he felt had created enough opportunities – including two that hit the post – to deserve a point.  

“It is frustrating but to be honest I think it was a fair result,” Russell said. “They had a lot of chances in the first half and they went down. We scored three. It was unfortunate they scored a late goal like that, but we got a point and every point is valuable at this point.”

Thanks to San Antonio’s 2-0 defeat at Saint Louis FC, Reno now sits three points above the playoff line and ninth-place SAFC with five matches remaining and holds two games in hand over the Texas side. 1868 FC has an outside chance at clinching a playoff place this week with two outings of its own and the potential San Antonio could drop points on Saturday night to send Reno into its second consecutive postseason, but as importantly the side can also go a long way toward a possible sixth-place finish in the West if it handles its business this week at home against Rio Grande Valley FC and Tulsa Roughnecks FC.

“I think if we win our next couple games we’ll be fine,” Russell said.

STLFC TAKES PLAYOFF SIX-POINTER: Saint Louis FC left it late on Saturday night but scored twice in the final 11 minutes of play to boost its chances of making the USL Cup Playoffs for the first time in club history with a 2-0 victory over fellow playoff hopeful San Antonio FC.

There was little to separate the two sides in the match as SAFC retained 50.9 percent possession and registered five shots on goal to STLFC’s four, but Lewis Hilton provided a moment of quality for the hosts in the 79th minute to break the deadlock. Hilton took Albert Dikwa’s pass and fired a shot into the top corner for his third goal of the season to give Saint Louis the lead before Dikwa sealed the win in stoppage time after Moises Hernandez had been sent off for the visitors.  

“It was a tight one tonight and we knew we had to be clinical when we got an opportunity and I’m immensely proud of all the guys tonight as the spirit and togetherness that they have shown all year has paid dividends,” said STLFC Head Coach Anthony Pulis. “It’s a massive three points but it’s not over—we have to keep going.”

Saint Louis heads to Phoenix on Saturday with a six-point gap separating it and ninth-place SAFC with just three games remaining and can book a playoff berth if it collects at least four points from those matches. Meanwhile, San Antonio returns home for its final three games knowing that it’s going to need Saint Louis, Swope Park Rangers or Reno to slip up down the stretch to return to the postseason for the second straight year.

While SAFC defender Cyprian Hedrick is disappointed that the team no longer controls its playoff destiny, he knows it must move on quickly to take care of business the rest of the way, starting on Saturday against Seattle Sounders FC 2.

“It’s important [for us to put this behind us,]” Hedrick said. “This trip wasn’t what we wanted and what we needed, but it’s going to be good to go back home with our fans and finish the season strong. Hopefully something will go our way with other results.”

REAL’S SLIDE CONTINUES: Real Monarchs SLC slipped to its fourth defeat in five games as Efrain Alvarez scored a hat trick to lead LA Galaxy II to a resounding 6-1 home victory on Saturday night at StubHub Center.

The Monarchs did manage to clinch a playoff spot thanks to results elsewhere, but they won’t have been celebrating much after conceding a season-high six goals just days after conceding five in a loss to Orange County FC. Real Head Coach Jamison Olave took the blame for Saturday’s drubbing and defended his team after its sixth straight loss away from Zions Bank Stadium.

“I think it’s the little mistakes that are costing us these matches,” Olave said. “In the first half against Orange County we played really well. Against LA, I take full responsibility because the players did what I asked them to do. I made the decision for us to press them tonight after playing on Wednesday. I think the team got a little tired and stretched. Maybe I make a different decision going into this game but we’ll watch the game back and see what we can do differently.”

The Monarchs will try to right the ship over their final three-game stretch of the regular season – starting on Saturday against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC – as they try to avoid slipping out of a top-four spot in the West and going on the road in the first round of the playoffs.

ONE FOR THE FUTURE: Rio Grande Valley FC continued to build momentum towards next season as the side extended its unbeaten run to three games with a 3-0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC 2 on Saturday night at H-E-B Park.

The hosts got goals from Todd Wharton, Eric Bird and Nicolas Perea to add another positive result to their recent 2-1 comeback win over Real Monarchs SLC and 1-1 draw with Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. RGVFC Head Coach Gerson Echeverry was very pleased with his team’s performance, but knows they still have room to improve over the final stretch of the season.

“Any time you score three goals, which we haven’t all year in a win, we get a shutout, and so it’s great,” Echeverry said. “The only thing I would’ve liked for us to do is to be a little better in possession. I thought our defensive block was very good defensively. We didn’t have too many chances. Some balls over the top, I thought. But when we had the ball, we were sometimes too much in a hurry to get forward and giving the ball away without pressure. That’s something we need to discuss.”

Echeverry also had the chance to provide a debut to 18-year-old Brandon Morales, who became the first player in Toros Academy history to sign a first-team contract earlier this year.

Morales, who completed 23 passes and made two tackles in 67 minutes of action in the Toros midfield, was delighted to make his professional debut in a winning effort.

“It’s amazing,” Morales said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life and finally, it came. I’m happy with the result. The 3-0 win. We still have to improve and end the season strong.”