Louis “Chapa” Herrera had not scored a goal since 2021.
He was playing for El Paso Locomotive and scored in a loss. Over the next three seasons, he failed to record a goal.
On Wednesday in Knoxville, that changed. Herrera scored the extra-time winner in Greenville Triumph SC’s 3-2 win over fellow USL League One rival One Knoxville SC.
“He’s not a goal scorer, but he was in the right place at the right time and stuck it away,” Greenville head coach Rick Wright said. “He had a chance a little bit later. So, we were very excited for him.”
Greenville Triumph started the scoring early on, as Lyam MacKinnon took a chance in the 15th minute. One Knoxville goalkeeper Johan Garibay made the initial save, but the rebound fell to MacKinnon, which he put away.
One Knoxville was given an opportunity just three minutes later, as the club was awarded a penalty off a handball. Kempes Tekiela put it past the goalkeeper to level the score.
MacKinnon earned his brace in the 33rd minute. He took advantage of a deflection to find himself close to the goal with just Garibay to beat. He used his left foot to put the ball across his body for his second goal of the evening.
Tekiela leveled the score once again, this time from open play. Thanks to a crafty assist by Innocent Nshuti, Tekiela found himself with some space in the box. He took advantage, leveling the game after the 62nd minute.
Greenville Triumph was awarded a penalty with just five minutes remaining, giving Brandon Fricke a great opportunity to send his side through. He tried to beat Garibay to his right but couldn’t do so as Garibay saved his team’s chances.
He couldn’t do so in added time, as Herrera dispatched the game-winning goal in the second half of extra time. Leonardo Castro made a run down the left wing, cut inside to draw the defenders near the penalty box and played the ball left to a wide open Herrera making an overlapping run. Herrera took a couple of touches, moved it to his right foot and curled a shot to the far post to beat the goalkeeper in the 107th minute.
One Knoxville had several chances to find the equalizer, but Greenville Triumph was able to see out the game through their defending and their perseverance of draining time holding the ball in the corners.
With 16 USL Championship teams entering in the Third Round, Wright wants to take the opportunity and play a new opponent. The draw for the Third Round will be held on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.
“I’d like to play a Championship team because we’re going to play all these other guys in the league,” Wright said. “So a little different team that we’ll have to play against. Hopefully, we’ll host because we’ve been on the road for the last little bit.”