EL PASO, Texas — El Paso Locomotive FC will play for a spot in the USL Championship Western Conference final on Saturday, Nov. 7, when the third-seeded Locomotive visit second-seeded Sacramento Republic FC.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Pacific time at Heart Health Park in Sacramento, Calif. The opponent was settled over the weekend, when Sacramento got past FC Tulsa 1-0 on an 88th-minute goal from 19-year-old homegrown midfielder Blake Willey. It was the fifth playoff shutout for Republic goalkeeper Danny Vitiello.
El Paso earned its place a few days earlier at home, beating San Antonio FC 2-1 in the quarterfinals on Oct. 30. Rubio Rubin scored in the 14th minute off a Roberto Avila assist, and Tony Alfaro made it 2-0 in the 54th minute with Robert Coronado setting him up. San Antonio got one back in the 84th minute on a close-range finish by Diogo Pacheco but could not find an equalizer, and the loss ended its season.
The Locomotive enter the semifinal with a 15-5-10 record, including an 8-2-5 mark on the road. New Mexico United handed El Paso its most recent defeat on Oct. 24, the week before the postseason opened. Sacramento is 13-12-15 overall and 9-4-2 at home and has won three in a row.
The clubs split two regular-season meetings. El Paso won 2-1 on March 28, and Sacramento took the most recent one 1-0 on Oct. 17.
Sacramento won the league title in its first season in 2014 and has reached the playoffs every year since except 2021, but a second title has not followed. The winner Saturday moves on to the Western Conference final, one step from the league championship game.
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