EDINBURG, Texas (March 22, 2019) – Rio Grande Valley FC (0-2-0) will travel to El Paso to take on the Locomotive FC (0-1-1) on Saturday, March 23 at Southwest University Park. This is the first Copa Tejas match of the 2019 season.
Texas now has four teams that compete in the USL Championship League. Copa Tejas was formed by supporter groups of San Antonio FC, El Paso, Austin Bold and RGV FC. The award will be given at the end of the 2019 USL Championship regular season to the Texas team with the best head-to-head record amongst the four clubs.
Rio Grande Valley suffered a tough loss, 0-2, on March 16 when they faced Fresno FC in the home opener. The kryptonite for the Toros in that match and the previous one as well, was finishing in the final third despite attacking well. El Paso earned their first point of the season after a scoreless draw with Real Monarchs, stepping in the right direction.
This is the first meeting for both clubs since El Paso Locomotive FC became a franchise and joined the USL Championship league. Earning points is of utmost importance for both sides as they find themselves in the lower ranks of the USL Championship standings early. RGV FC midfielder Brad Dunwell is also a newcomer to the Texas rivalry series and offered his thoughts on the derby match preparation, “To be honest, we try and keep the intensity the same for any opponent, but I don’t know too much about the Texas rivalry, hopefully I get a good start coming this Saturday.”
Despite the fact that they are a newly formed franchise, El Paso offers challenges on the pitch with their experienced core and ball movement. RGV FC head coach Gerson Echeverry elaborated on the topic; “I felt that they move the ball extremely well, they’re very organized defensively, they press high. In Utah, which is not an easy place to play because of the altitude, they went up there and pressed them, so they were forcing them into mistakes and when they had possession of the ball they were very composed. It is a veteran team, it is a team that has a lot of experience with some players who have been around for a while. Even though it is a first-year franchise it is not like a bunch of kids playing, it’s a quite experienced team.”
Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. CST and will be available on ESPN+. Updates on the match will be provided via Twitter at @RGVFC or by following #SomosToros. To see more matchday information, visit https://www.rgvfc.com .
# SOMOS TOROS #
