San Antonio FC played two 60-minutes matches against Saint Louis FC in closed-door preseason friendlies on Saturday. After a 0-0 draw in the first match, a Saint Louis own goal led to a 1-0 victory for San Antonio FC in the second game.

“There are a lot of positive takeaways,” said SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell. “We have been working on different things attacking wise, as well as how we defend when we don’t have the ball. We were able to use all of our players for 60 minutes each, kept clean sheets and created several opportunities throughout both games.”

The first match saw a number of chances for both teams, highlighted by a flying save from goalkeeper Matthew Cardone on a Saint Louis free kick in the 20th minute. Despite not scoring, flowing attacking moves from Billy Forbes, Ever Guzman and Lance Laing provided good chances for the home side before the honors finished even.

San Antonio and Saint Louis nearly shared the spoils in the second match as well, however midway through the second half an SAFC trialist sent a hard-driven cross into the box that was deflected by an STLFC defender into their own net. The goal proved to be the only score of the afternoon, earning the Alamo City club a win in the second game, and their second preseason win overall in 2019.

“This is what preseason is about,” said SAFC midfielder Michael Lahoud. “Yes, you want to get the result, but it’s really about cementing your identity as a team. You want to create a winning environment and that comes with having a philosophy and knowing who you are.”

San Antonio FC will play their next preseason match on February 23 as they host USL expansion side El Paso Locomotive FC at Toyota Field at 7 p.m. The game is open to the public and free for San Antonio FC Season Ticket Members. The general public can purchase $10 tickets for the game now.

SAFC Game One XI: GK: Cardone; D: Greene, Yaro, Didic, Ackon; M: Pecka, Castillo, Barmby, Laing, Forbes; F: Guzman

SAFC Game Two XI: GK: Viscosi; D: Trialist, Eboussi, Fenwick, Maguraushe; M: Restrepo, Bryant, Lahoud, Parano, Trialist; F: Bruce