El Paso Patriots News Release -- www.elpasopatriots.com
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
EL PASO, Texas -- The El Paso Patriots are ready for a return to their home field, and it arrives just in time for perhaps their toughest test of the season on Tuesday night against USL PRO's Charlotte Eagles in the second round of the 99th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. MT at Patriot Stadium, and the winner gets a third round match in Frisco, Texas, against Major League Soccer's FC Dallas on Tuesday, May 29.
If the Patriots want to fly higher in the Open Cup, they'll have to ground the Eagles of USL PRO to do it. Charlotte is currently tied for seventh with eight points in the United Soccer League's 11-team top division with a 2-6-2 mark, but the Eagles are full-time pros playing a step below MLS that will be a big challenge for the Patriots.
That said, Tuesday's game could well be determined by who can find some offense. Naoyas Aizawa scored twice and assisted on a third El Paso goal in the Open Cup win last Tuesday, but the Patriots (1-2-1, 4 points, 2nd place Mid-South) have managed only one goal in each Premier Development League game they've played. Sergio Villasenor, Enrique Cervantes, Michael Griego and Aizawa have taken turns scoring in league play.
Losing, 2-1, at 2011 PDL runner-up Laredo last Friday, the Patriots were ripped by the division-leading Austin Aztex, 6-1, the next night in Austin.
After 10 games, the most played so far by any team in USL PRO, the Eagles have just two multi-goal scorers. Forward Darryl Roberts leads the team with three tallies, while midfielder Jorge Herrera has scored twice and assisted once.
This is one of the more intriguing match-ups of the second round of the Open Cup. El Paso sports a handful of veterans in addition to its usual great supply of outstanding young local talent. Griego has been a member of the U-20 U.S. National Team. Aizawa, Villasenor, playmaker Daniel Campos and midfielder Eduardo Cisneros are all former members of CD Indios in El Paso's sister city, Juarez.
Charlotte's Roberts was a former draft pick of MLS' Toronto FC but elected to play in Europe, scoring 15 goals in three seasons with Denizlispor of the Turkcell Super League after starting his career with Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The son of a famous Colombian bullfighter, Herrera has played professionally in South America for five different teams in three different countries before coming to Charlotte.
Home has certainly been good to El Paso over the years. Patriot Stadium witnessed a memorable Open Cup upset in 2007 after El Paso ousted USL First Division side Miami FC on penalties as Patriots' goalie Jorge Muniz stoned Brazilian World Cup star Zinho from the spot, then scored the game-winning PK.
To see if El Paso can pull off another upset tonight, follow the Patriots' Twitter feed (twitter.com/elpasopatriots).