SAN ANTONIO – With all the anticipation leading up to Saturday night’s clash between San Antonio FC and Real Monarchs SLC at Toyota Field, there’s certainly an extra energy present for the hosts as they aim to close the gap at the top to the Monarchs.

But with 15 games still to go in the regular season, while the game might have a brighter spotlight than most, SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell is trying to keep things on the same upward trend within his group.

“It’s always good to get yourself against the best teams in the league,” said Powell. “That’s something that we all find as a challenge. For us right now it’s still midseason, so you want to continue to keep getting better, and that’s really our focus. We’re not really going to take our eye of what we do on a weekly basis because it’s ‘a big game’, we want to make sure our preparations remain the same.”

Saturday’s game does offer up a good contrast in styles, though, which should make for a compelling contest between the first-place Monarchs and now third-place SAFC. With Real’s willingness to possess and try and find angles between the defensive lines, and San Antonio’s ability to strike at pace, the game might be a tight one, but its high moments could be as good as we’ll see in the USL this regular season.

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One of the keys to that counterattacking game for SAFC has been, interestingly, goalkeeper Diego Restrepo. The veteran moved in seamlessly to help maintain SAFC’s tight defensive structure after Matt Cardone’s early-season injury, with Powell pleased with the connection and communication Restrepo brings to the lineup, but his ability to find a quick outlet that gets the team moving the other way that has been a major plus.

“The ball he played out last week for Devin [Vega] was a wonderful pass, and obviously Devin was able to give Billy [Forbes] a good ball as well,” said Powell of Forbes’ goal against OKC Energy FC last Friday night. “He did one earlier in the game as well. His distribution is very good, it’s a strength of his as well, and it suits us very well.”

Restrepo’s organizational skills, and ensuring the Monarchs’ movement off the ball doesn’t pull players out of position is going to be key on Saturday with Real entering not only with the second-best scoring record in the league, but also an attack that has shown versatility in the way it can break down opposing defenses. It’s a pattern of play that Powell is highly respectful of.

“They’ve done a terrific job, they’ve got some very good players, and they certainly play very well between the lines and building through the lines,” said Powell. “The styles do contrast a little bit, but the big thing in these games is the goals will change it. I think in this particular game, the team that scores first will have an advantage, and at that point it becomes about how the styles [adjust], how the opposition adapt to one another when goals are scored.”

Another aspect that could make Saturday night’s game one to remember is the atmosphere at Toyota Field. With sellout crowds of more than 8,000 fans each of the past two weekends, the way San Antonio continues to embrace its club has been a delight for Powell and the rest of SAFC’s staff.

“You can’t speak highly enough about the fan’s groups and supporters that come into the stadium,” said Powell. “Not only are the bodies getting into the stadium, the noise is getting louder, the building’s getting louder every game. What we’re finding is lots of soccer fans have their own teams from Liga MX to European-based teams, but they all get behind San Antonio FC. That makes it exciting for the city, that can unite the city. We’re just glad to be part of it and try to do our bit and obviously the better the team can do, hopefully we can continue to sell out the building.”

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Another big crowd should be expected on Saturday night, with the contest also setting up as a starting point for the race for the USL Regular Season Championship. With a three-horse race now emerging at the top of the Western Conference thanks to the Swope Park Rangers’ recent surge, putting in another run is the goal for SAFC, but will certainly be a tough proposition considering the landscape elsewhere in the conference.

“We’ve all had good runs, us, Real and Swope,” said Powell. “If one of those teams gets on another run it’s obviously going to put them in a very strong position, but now Reno’s put on a bit of a run, there’s many teams that aren’t even in the top eight that are more than capable of putting in a run to the playoffs, so it’s going to get very tight at all levels of the division, from the top end to the playoffs, everyone’s going to be vying to put a run together.”

After the side's 14-game undefeated streak to start the season gave way to three games without a win, there would be no better time to start another run for San Antonio than on Saturday night.