The home win streak for San Diego Loyal SC ended Saturday with a 2-1 loss to the El Paso Locomotive FC at Torero Stadium.
Tumi Moshobane was responsible for the Loyal’s goal, but the team couldn’t capitalize on a series of scoring chances. A late rally in the USL Championship match also fell short.
The loss, the first at home for the Loyal this season, snapped a four-match win streak and capped a busy month that included seven matches.
The Loyal (4-2-2) was coming off a midweek Third Round U.S. Open Cup match at Seattle Sounders FC, where the club fell 5-4 in extra time to the Major League Soccer side. The meeting against El Paso (4-3-1) was the third match in seven days for head coach Nate Miller’s squad.
El Paso got on the scoreboard first when Ricardo Zacarias gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage in the 13th minute. Zacarias took a pass from Liam Rose, dribbled into the penalty area and sent a shot that deflected off Loyal defender Kyle Adams and curled over goalkeeper Koke Vegas.
Moshobane tied the match 1-1 with a low-rolling left-footed shot off a quick run that started with a pass from Nick Moon in the 61st minute. He sifted through a pair of defenders before firing a shot that beat El Paso goalkeeper Benny Diaz.
It was the forward’s first goal of 2023 and his club-leading 18th with the Loyal. In addition, Moon recorded his first assist of the season.
El Paso would find the game-winner four minutes later when Denys Kostshyn charged into the penalty area on a give-and-go play with Luis Solignac to beat Vegas for the score.
The Loyal will look to bounce back on the road, with a jaunt up Interstate 5 to face Orange County SC (1-4-3) at 7 p.m. May 6. The club returns home on May 13 to take on the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros (1-2-4).
