Monarchs SLC back in Texas looking to sweep San Antonio FC

Real Monarchs SLC is back in the heat of Texas for the second straight match as they travel to San Antonio for a rematch against San Antonio FC. The Monarchs emerged 3-2 winners this season at Zion Bank Stadium as they fought to put three goals across the line after gifting two early goals to the visitors with bad defensive giveaways. The match also featured the ejection of San Antonio Head Coach Darren Powell was also ejected from the match as the his side pulled back into tight defensive formation for most of the match in an attempt to preserve their early lead.

San Antonio has a 6-8-6 record at this point in the season which leaves them outside of the playoff spots, but feature a very strong 5-1-4 home record with the only loss coming in their second match of the season against Portland Timbers 2. They are riding a four match unbeaten streak of their own as the recent loan of forward Frank Lopez from LA Galaxy II for the rest of the season seems to kickstarted a moribund offense.

Kai Greene and Joshua Yaro have played every minute this season and along with Ebenezer Ackon function as a steady three man back line in front of Matt Cardone with 59 saves and 6 clean sheets in goal. Midfielder Cristian Parano is the only other player to appear in all twenty matches.

The Monarchs at 7th sit near the top of a pack of 8 teams with 29 to 26 points sitting in places 4 through 12 of the Western Conference standings. They also have at least 1 and up to 3 games in hand over all the other teams in the pack.

Captain Jack Blake has returned from injury and there are indications that Douglas Martinez, the team’s leading scorer, will be back with the squad for this team. Although three other starters have recently left the team and Noah Powder received a call up to provide backup for Wednesday’s night match with Tigres, Jamison Olave should have plenty of bodies to join Maikel Chang and Blake in a strong 18 on the field Saturday night.

With a couple of home games against struggling Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and Tulsa Roughnecks coming up after this trip to San Antonio, the youthful Monarchs have a excellent chance to push to the top of the mid table pack and take firm control of their playoff chances with a second straight result on the road.

The match kicks at 5:30 PM Mountain Time and for those following the RSL-FC Dallas match is available for streaming on ESPN+ during and following the match.