February 25, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – San Antonio FC News Release
SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio FC picked up a 2-0 win in its first preseason match open to the public, defeating Guatemalan side Antigua GFC at Toyota Field Saturday.
Luke Haakenson struck first for San Antonio, chesting down a pass from Jorge Hernandez and striking from distance to put SAFC up early in the 10th minute.
Kendall McIntosh, Mohamed Omar and Bura Nogueira took the pitch for the second half alongside SAFC Pro Academy players. Omar capitalized off a set piece opportunity to double SAFC’s lead in the 57th minute, while McIntosh made a fingertip save in the final 10 minutes to preserve the team’s first clean sheet of the year.
Next Up
San Antonio FC cap off its preseason slate Saturday, March 2, hosting Austin FC II in a closed-door friendly. The 2024 regular season presented by Toyota will open against Loudoun United Saturday, March 9 at Toyota Field. Tickets are on sale now at SanAntonioFC.com or on the SAFC app.
Scoring Summary:
SAFC: 1-0, Luke Haakenson (Assisted by Jorge Hernandez) 10′
SAFC: 2-0, Mohamed Omar (Assisted by Bura Nogueira) 57′
Attendance: 4,683
SAFC Starting XI: Pablo Sisniega, Lucas Silva, Shannon Gomez, Mitchell Taintor, Kendall Burks, Carter Manley, Luke Haakenson, Mohammed Abu, Kevon Lambert, Jorge Hernandez, Santiago Patiño
Quotes:
Head Coach Alen Marcina
(On the team’s performance…)
“I’m proud of the guys’ commitment to execute the game model principles. Essentially that’s what we are seeking and searching for in preseason. It’s less about the result and more about us and developing that team identity. I’m really, really proud that we got to showcase that in front of our fans. I did say prior to the start of preseason that we’ve evolved our game model. I think everybody saw it. We dominated with the ball and we dominated without the ball, so we’re pleased but plenty of room for growth ahead.”
(On having four different goal scorers in preseason…)
“Very proud of them all. It’s good to see that you have a number of different players that can put the ball in the back of the net. That makes us very, very dangerous when you can’t only hone in on one or two players.”
(On the team’s evolved style…)
“If you look at data over the last four years, we are the number one team in the Western Conference for most wins, most points, so it would be silly to remove the foundational principles. However, I do believe personally every three, four years you want…