La Maquina

2016 US Open Cup Round 2: La Maquina earn second straight shutout, 2-0 over Sacramento Gold

May 21, 2016 by Alicia Rodriguez

Orange County’s La Maquina defeated NPSL side Sacramento Gold 2-0 at Westminster High School in Westminster on Wednesday in the US Open Cup Second Round.

The game remained scoreless through the first 70 minutes, but La Maquina scored two goals inside of 10 minutes, courtesy of Edwin Borboa and Jose Castro Perez, to grab the result and advance to the third round.

La Maquina, in their first ever US Open Cup tournament, controlled the run of play throughout the night, as second-time Open Cup participant Sacramento tried to hold firm and grab chances when they could.

“Basically, we just told the guys they have to keep playing the same way they have,” said La Maquina assistant coach Edson Martinez on Thursday.

“As soon as they were able to score that first goal, that gave them more confidence to score another one or two, which they did.”

The hosts, who went on the road to claim their first-round win over Portland Timbers U-23s, showed why they have been a successful tournament team in recent years on the local Southern California circuit, with former pros like Borboa, who won two Mexican league titles, meshing well with a core group of players who have been playing together for several years for the team.

Martinez praised Borboa’s “stellar performance” and ability to “always come through for the team,” an important feature in a tournament atmosphere, and also singled out the twin brothers in central midfield, the goal scorer Perez and his brother Rosando.

“They’re the motor of the team that keeps everyone going,” he said. “Those guys don’t stop, they just run, run, run.

“They’re twins, and they know what doing. They play with their eyes closed-type of thing.”

La Maquina will now host fellow UPSL competitors LA Wolves FC in the third round on June 1 at Westminster High School with a match-up against two-time US Open Cup winners LA Galaxy in the following round on the line.

2016 US Open Cup Round 1: Well-traveled first-timers La Maquina eliminate Timbers U23s, 2-0

May 14, 2016 by Kristen Gehrke

Portland Timbers U23s La Maquina — Photo: Kristen Gehrke

La Maquina, a team that qualified for Open Cup play last fall before being suspended by its league following an altercation at the end of a playoff match, bested the Portland Timbers U23s 2-0 Wednesday night at Providence Park.

Travelling with just fifteen players, the Southern California United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) side was aggressive from the get-go, dominating possession and bossing the home team.

The visitors opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Alejandro Velazquez tipped the ball past the near post. An already confident team only grew more dominant.

The game was chippy at times, perhaps showing the inexperience of the home team and the passion of the visiting side. U23s’ Ben White was shown a yellow in the 45th minute for a fairly harsh challenge on goal-scorer Velazquez. La Maquina’s Eduardo Almaraz picked up a yellow in the 70th and the Timbers Chavez earned his own yellow for a tackle on former Chivas de Guadalajara forward Edwin Barboa.

Barboa was down on the field for an extended period, but recovered and, catching the U23s keeper off his line, tapped the ball over the goal line in added time to seal the win for the UPSL side.

La Maquina will host NPSL’s Sacramento Gold May 18 at Westminster High School in Westminster, Calif.

Scoring Summary
MAQ: Velazquez, 6
MAQ: Borboa, 90+

Lineups
POR: Nelson, De Vera, Chavez, White, Coffee, Murphy (Martinez, 56), Johnson, Dee (Macchione, 72), Jones (Small, 53), Prescott, Mueller.
TOTAL SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 12; SAVES: 2

MAQ: Sosa, Vasquez, Orozco (Palomares, 79), Borboa, Velazquez (Godinez, 88), Godinez Jr. (Almaraz, 57), R. Perez, J. Perez, Paniagua, Ramirez, Martinez.
TOTAL SHOTS: 10; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 12; SAVES: 4

2016 US Open Cup qualifying: Former Chivas player helps La Maquina eliminate 2015 darlings Chula Vista FC, 4-0 (video)

November 22, 2015 by Josh Hakala

La Maquina lines up for player introductions before their 2016 US Open Cup qualifying match with Chula Vista FC. Photo: La Maquina

La Maquina wouldn’t mind having the kind of success Chula Vista FC had in last season’s US Open Cup.

But first, La Maquina had to beat Chula Vista FC.

Mission accomplished.

La Maquina put in a machine-line performance in a 4-0 win over Chula Vista FC to earn a berth in the final round of the open division qualifying tournament, which takes place next April.

One of the best teams in the strong Los Angeles-based United Premier Soccer League, which sent nine teams to the tournament this year – including LA Wolves FC, Del Rey City and Cal FC. The 2015 US Open Cup Division 4 $15,000 prize winner PSA Elite also competes in the league. La Maquina is attempting to qualify for the Open Cup for the first time.

While it might have been hampered by the absence of four starters and hindered by not having practiced together in several months, it didn’t show in the effort.

La Maquina took a 1-0 halftime lead after former Concordia University (Calif.) standout Edgar Orozco tallied the first of his three assists, delivering a cross to former C.D. Guadalajera and Pachuca player Edwin Borboa, who beat a pair of defenders and fired the ball into the back of the net.

After halftime, La Maquina poured it on with a second goal around the 60th minute. Alejandro Velasquez delivered a ball to former Laredo Heat (PDL) player Rodolfo Godinez who made it 2-0.

“The second goal really brought (Chula Vista FC) down,” said La Maquina assistant coach Edson Martinez. “It was a good game and Chula Vista is really good, but our team has been playing together for five to seven years and they know how to play.”

After the second goal, La Maquina had Chula Vista on their heels and they took advantage of it. Five minutes later, Orozco and Borboa linked up on another cross. Borboa, who scored in their first round win over Strikers FC South Coast, has been on a tear this season, scoring 37 goals in 16 UPSL matches.

In the 75th minute, Orozco helped put the game away as he assisted on a goal by Jose Castro, who played alongside his identical twin brother Rosendo.

Martinez says if the team can keep up its cohesion and family-like chemistry, they can replicate Chula Vista, which garnered attention in last year’s tournament after upsetting the USL’s Arizona United 3-0. But due to the having several members of the team who are soccer coaches at youth academies or at college programs, that could prove to be difficult.

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure we can be the next (US Open Cup) Cinderella story,” said Martinez, who also acts as the team’s general manager. “We’ve played against universities and beat them, we’ve played against all the (local) teams who have qualified for the Open Cup and we’ve beaten them. We’ve won games against teams from Mexico, but we’ve never been on the map because we’ve never entered the US Open Cup.”

Martinez is hoping the team can qualify and put their names on the American soccer map, like Cal FC, Chula Vista FC and PSA Elite before them.

The players on their roster have a lot of college, professional and international experience. They have former US youth internationals like Carlos Borja (Chivas USA), David Arviuz (Orange County Blues, Chivas USA) and Oscar Reyes (UCLA, US Beach Soccer National Team) in addition to Barboa and others.

In two weeks, La Maquina have another big game as they will take on San Nicolas in the UPSL Quarterfinals.