San Diego Loyal SC match preview against San Antonio FC
San Diego Loyal vs. San Antonio FC
Wednesday, June 14 @ 7 pm
Torero Stadium – USD
TV: ESPN+
The San Diego Loyal are back at it again Wednesday night.
They host San Antonio FC, who they just finished in a 3-3 draw with two weekends ago. Now, SD gets the chance to host the reigning USL champs after two intense matches the last few weeks.
Last Friday night, the Loyal came back to finish in a 1-1 draw with Sacramento Republic FC. Sacramento owns the best record in the USL as of now and sits atop the Western Conference with 29 points. The Loyal own a (6-4-4) record with 22 points which places them fourth in the conference.
Team flow 🌀 pic.twitter.com/fPOhFoZMOB
— San Diego Loyal (@SanDiegoLoyal) June 13, 2023
San Antonio is just ahead with 24 points and (6-2-6) record. Despite being in third, SA owns the second-best goal difference in the USL behind Sacramento at (+11). SAC leads at (+18). For SD, they claim a small goal difference at (+3).
San Antonio is also coming off a draw where they battled it out with 2nd-seed El Paso Locomotive. It seems as if all four of the top teams in the West are all facing each other at this point in the season. The West is always a close fight, as last year, there were quite a few teams that missed out on the postseason, being fewer than three points away from the 7-seed. This year should prove to be similar.
Ronaldo Damus has been huge for the Loyal over the last two matches. Facing two elite teams, Damus rose to the occasion as he knows what it takes to play against the best. Damus won the USL Championship in 2021 with Orange County, SC, and now is with SD to try and do the same thing. He has scored three goals in the last two matches and earned himself a Player of the Week honor the last time he faced SA.
SA will certainly try and not allow Damus to be a factor again, but that could benefit the Loyal. Evan Conway has just as many goals on the season and could easily find the back of the net. Alejandro Guido created some good chances in the last meeting as well, so if the Loyal continue to play as they have been, they could see a lot of success out there Wednesday night.
Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris is also an athlete and is huge fan of San Diego sports. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and contributes regularly about the Padres.