Playing in honor of a former teammate who died unexpectedly last week, forward Diego Abitia Leon delivered the deciding goal in his club debut, lifting El Paso Locomotive FC to a 2-0 road win over the Laredo Heat SC in the opening round of the US Open Cup on Thursday in front of a sellout crowd at PEG Energy Stadium in Laredo, Texas.
“It was my first club game. It was fun. It was a very hard team,” Abitia Leon said. “They have a lot of ballers. It was fun, and it’s always good to get the win.”
The Locomotive were looking for a spark after a tight, scoreless first half, and Abitia Leon delivered. El Paso captain Eric Calvillo had a one-timer attempt six yards out from the right post deflected by a defender, but Abitia Leon was in the right place at the right time. He kicked the deflection out of the air and into the lower left corner to open the scoring in the 51st minute.
The goal was a special way to honor his former Deportiva Toluca F.C. teammate Pablo Jurado Serafin, a goalkeeper who died last week just after his 22nd birthday. Abitia Leon wore an undershirt that read “Siempre en mi corazon. Descansa en paz Pablo,” which translates to “Always in my heart. Rest in peace Pablo.”
“It was special for me. It’s always special to score. I lost my best bud this week, so I think it was something special for him, and that’s why I did it,” Abitia Leon said.
Goalkeeper Sebastian Mora-Mora was key to Abitia Leon’s tiebreaker standing as the deciding goal. Despite playing two tiers above their level, the USL League Two side generated scoring chances throughout the first half against their USL Championship counterparts. However, Mora-Mora always had an answer. He made three diving saves and one leaping tip while seeing another shot from point-blank range go just wide left.
Calvillo nearly doubled the lead in the 62nd minute with a free kick just outside the top left of the box. He put a shot on target high on the short side, but Heat goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire changed direction for a diving deflection.
After subbing in during the 70th minute, forward Rubio Mendez Rubin continued a hot streak to start the season. He delivered an insurance goal in the 89th minute, beating a defender to a ball in the box, drifting to the right of the net and sending a low shot skimming the ground into the left corner. His fourth goal in the past three matches gave El Paso a 2-0 lead just before injury time.
El Paso will compete in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on either Tuesday, March 31, or Wednesday, April 1.
“It’s always important to win. We want to win the cup,” Abitia Leon said. “That’s one of our goals, so this first step is good for us. We’re going to keep working.”
The match marked the first time that the Laredo Heat had lost their opening game in the US Open Cup since their debut match in the touranment in 2006. That year, they lost to Dallas Roma FC, who went on a historic run. The one-and-done loss to El Paso also was the Laredo’s first-ever home loss in the tournament, snapping a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2, 1-1 PKs).