Patiño Powers San Antonio to First USL Championship

SAN ANTONIO – Santiago Patiño scored a pair of goals around a headed finish by Samuel Adeniran as San Antonio FC took a 3-1 victory against Louisville City FC to claim the 2022 USL Championship Final before a sellout crowd of 8,534 fans at Toyota Field on Sunday night.

Patiño scored moments before the halftime break to put the visitors ahead before two goals six minutes apart staked the hosts to a three-goal lead with 20 minutes remaining. Brian Ownby scored in the 78th minute for the visitors, but San Antonio closed the door from there, and is now undefeated in its last 46 games in which it has scored the opening goal over the past two seasons.

2022 USL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL POSTGAME QUOTES

2022 USL Championship Final Highlights – San Antonio FC 3, Louisville City FC 1

The hosts were handed a major opportunity in just the third minute when Patiño was brought down just inside the penalty area by LouCity goalkeeper Danny Faundez, resulting in a penalty kick. Mitchell Taintor stepped up for San Antonio but pulled his left-footed shot wide of the right post to keep the game scoreless.

San Antonio went close again in the 13th minute when Cristian Parano released Patiño on a counterattack on the right, only for the Colombian’s driven low cross through the six-yard area being just out of the reach of Adeniran. A Texas native, Adeniran struck the post three minutes later with a rasping shot from the top-left edge of the penalty area that crashed against the right post as the hosts continued to carry more attacking threat.

LouCity began to come into the game after sustaining pressure for the opening half-hour. Manny Perez looked dangerous on the right flank, but the visitors were unable to find a clear opening in the SAFC penalty area. Instead, San Antonio grabbed the lead in first half stoppage as for a second time on the night the hosts were awarded a penalty kick. LouCity’s Wes Charpie was whistled for a handball on a corner kick and Patiño made no mistake, shooting into the right corner to give SAFC the lead.

The visitors adjusted their structure at halftime, inserting Ownby off the bench as an extra attacker, and it almost immediately paid dividends. The veteran gained possession of a loose ball near the top of the penalty area and quickly fired a turning shot toward the bottom-left corner that SAFC goalkeeper Jordan Farr just kept out. The hosts continued to be dangerous on the…