Toros to host El Paso at H-E-B Park

Still sitting out of the playoff race a home win for the RGV FC Toros would be of essence to keep the feign playoff hopes alive. The teams have seen each but it was in the early part of the season where back in March where the Toros rescued a 2-2 draw in the dying minutes of the match where Chuy Enriquez equalized in the 90th minute.

Since then, the teams have gone in opposite directions. El Paso Locomotive FC sits right in the middle of the playoff race, where as the Toros are just looking to stay alive.

The Locomotive

El Paso comes to Edinburg for the first time, where they will be looking to end the playoff hopes of the Toros. Their last five games have shown otherwise as they are 1-3-1 and a overall of 3-3-5 on the road. The last El Paso road game was a loss to Phoenix Rising FC

The players to lookout for are Jerome Kiesewetter, Omar Salgado, and Sebastien Contreras. Kiesewetter is their goal scorer with 10 on the season, but the play making ability of Salgado and Contreras are also an eye to keep upon as they can provide the services. Also Sebastian Velasquez, a former MLS player, is another player to keep track of.

Keys to Victory

If the Toros are to stay alive and get three points at home they must do the following:

• Be aggressive on the defense. Too many times this season they Toros have given up soft goals, and most of the come off loose balls or easy turnovers. While the backline has not surrendered a lot PKs being more aggressive at the end of games and not surrendering late goals. Also giving up early goals is another cause for concern as well.
• Avoiding the slow starts. The Toros have made it a theme where giving up the first goal and early in the match has been a major issue. In 16 games played this season where the opponent scores first early RGV is a staggering (0-11-5). If they are make a late push giving up the early goals must stop.
• Play aggressive at home and score first. When playing at home and scoring first RGV is 5-4-3. If the Toros need second life to make the playoffs and especially playing a home game this is it.

The particulars

The kickoff is at 7:30 PM CST at H-E-B Park and can be seen on ESPN +. If you are a resident of the Rio Grande Valley area the game can be seen locally on channel 5.2 or on Spectrum Cable 1240. Also there are a limited number of $5 tickets available. The proceeds of the $5 tickets go to the El Paso shooting victims. The first 500 fans in attendance get an RGV Toros lunch bag.