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San Antonio Shows Fight in Defeat to Galaxy II

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 07/24/16, 9:28AM EDT

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Crowd of 7,690 at Toyota Field saw hosts almost complete comeback late on


Photo courtesy Darren Abate / San Antonio FC

SAN ANTONIO – Entering with a six-game undefeated streak, San Antonio FC got a dream start and energized a crowd of 7,690 fans at Toyota Field with a third-minute blast from Rafael Castillo against the LA Galaxy II on Saturday night.

From there, though, the defensive discipline that had served the side so well a week prior against Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 deserted the hosts. Los Dos quickly reeled off three goals before halftime, and then withstood SAFC’s late pressure to take a 3-2 victory and move to the top of the Western Conference standings.

“It was a strange game,” said San Antonio Coach Darren Powell. “It became very open, very quickly, which is something we really didn’t want. They have quality forwards, quality attacking play, and bottom line is there’s things within our defensive line that we should have done better.”

The Galaxy II’s quality in front of goal was in full evidence on each of their finishes. Not two minutes after Castillo’s opening goal, the visitors answered as younger brother Jaime Villarreal slipped a pass to older brother Jose Villarreal for a fine first-time finish.

Jack McBean’s USL-leading 15th goal of the season followed 15 minutes later, before he played a brilliant around-the-corner pass that released Jaime Villarreal 10 minutes before halftime. The younger Villarreal played in Josh Turnley down the left, and then continued his run to be perfectly positioned alone in the penalty to polish off the return pass from the fullback.

“It was a crazy first half,” said San Antonio defender Stephen McCarthy. “I think our fitness really showed there at the end when we were pressing for a goal, but that’s how the game was, we needed a goal anyway. It’s tough. They’re a good team and we can’t just give up goals.”

San Antonio pressed strongly to get back into the game in the second half, and found a lifeline with seven minutes to go. Castillo’s free kick was turned on goal by Michael Reed, and while Galaxy II goalkeeper Clement Diop was able to make the initial save, McCarthy was well-positioned to take advantage of the rebound.

The comeback came up short, however, as results elsewhere in the Western Conference saw the side slide out of the top eight after wins by Saint Louis FC and SAFC’s next opponent the Swope Park Rangers moved them up in the standings.

With a visit to the Rangers next Saturday looming as a key game in the stretch run, McCarthy said the side is looking forward to starting a new undefeated streak immediately.

“We’re super motivated right now,” McCarthy said. “We need to make playoffs and every game is a must-win. It’s terrible that we didn’t come away with something here, so every game is huge.”

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