Toros salvage first point of the season (Plus: Dash Preseason in College Station)

Andres Naranjo
Mar 26, 2019
2 min read

Romilio Hernandez and Jesus “Chuy” Enriquez scored two goals in the last ten minutes of regulation to help RGVFC settle with a draw in their maiden trip to El Paso, Texas this past Saturday.

Key Points:

• Rio Grande Valley FC Toros drew USL Championship expansion side El Paso Locomotive FC 2-2.

• First-ever match between both clubs and first match in the Copa Tejas competition between Austin Bold FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, Rio Grande Valley FC Toros and San Antonio FC.

• With a point, the Toros avoid their worst start in club history after three matches.

Coming to Southwest University Park for the first time, RGVFC had yet to score any goals, lost their first two matches, and sat at the bottom of the Western Conference standings to start the 2019 USL Championship regular season. The visitors aimed for a positive result in what looked to be the start of a beautiful friendship in hostile territory.

El Paso would be the team to take the lead first as Nick Ross would find the back of the net in the last minutes of the first half and Derek Gebhard would do the same later on in the second half.

It looked to be as another defensive blunder altogether in part by the Toros, but they would respond immediately after El Paso’s second goal as Romilio Hernandez would score RGVFC’s first goal of the season in great fashion and Jesus “Chuy” Enriquez came in with a clutch goal off the free kick sequence to seal the draw on the road.

Was looking at a loss from a mile away based on another case of lack of urgency after the Locomotive’s second goal, but I am glad the Toros turned things around quickly with their backs against the wall.

Toros Grade for the Week: C A reasonable road result but they have yet to address inconsistent defensive performances that will kill momentum during the season.

Fox MVP of the Week: • Jesus “Chuy” Enriquez: a constant threat for defenses always and scored the winner in El Paso. Honorable mentions: • Romilio Hernandez: scored a Goal of the Week nominee as the Toros’ first goal of 2019.

Dash? Dash.

I made my second-ever pilgrimage to College Station to cover the Houston Dash for their annual scrimmage against Texas A&M. Although one always expects the Dash to come out with a dominating result over the Aggies every year, it it always interesting for me to witness every player’s technical ability and wisdom of the game as I strengthen my knowledge on women’s soccer.

The Dash would of course end with a 3-0 win, however, while the scrimmage had the usual defensive superiority against a clearly inferior team and offensive performances by the likes of Veronica Latsko, Kealia Ohai, Rachel Daly and Nichelle Prince to control the match, I was mostly impressed with Christine Nairn’s and Sophie Schmidt’s presence in midfield since they always played as a crucial piece in the final third which I will definitely look forward to when the 2019 NWSL regular season rolls in.

Of course I will be holding my breath until the face a pro team, but things are looking good early under James Clarkson.