When the El Paso Locomotive’s Prinx Tires Cup game with USL League 1 team AV Alta was put on the schedule months ago, there wasn’t much reason to think it would be anything other than a chance for some reserves to see the field in what seemed to be an afterthought game.
That was reinforced in the 4-0-1 start to USL League play that had the Locomotive at the top of the Western Conference. Since then, El Paso has skidded to three losses and a tie in their last four league games, while splitting a pair of games in two different cup competitions.
Suddenly, Wednesday’s game against lower division AV Alta, which comes after a week and a half off, takes on more meaning than perhaps it looked like a month ago.
This is a game El Paso needs to win, not so much to keep itself in position in the USL’s league cup, but to get matters going back in the right direction.
“Cup game or not, even if it was a friendly game, it’s very important because we need to get back to those winning ways and what it feels like to win games again,” midfielder Eric Calvillo said.
“Having that hunger and wanting to come out in front of our home fans — at home we haven’t been on that winning track lately — we have to take advantage of these opportunities and not let them slip away like we have in previous games.”
The 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, May 27, is at Southwest University Park where El Paso is 1-2-1 this season and hasn’t won since April 4.
Manager Junior Gonzalez echoed that.
“Any time you come off a loss the next game is a chance to turn it around,” he said. “We’ve had a few opportunities to get ourselves higher in the standings, we didn’t achieve those goals, by no means is this group panicking.
“We’re showing up for this Wednesday game against AV Alta to get a result and to play our style of play. A good result gives us two wins in the Prinx (Tires) Cup and keeps us going in that competition.”
How the Prinx Tires Cup works
To recap rules of this tournament, the Prinx Tires Cup is a competition involving the 42 teams of the USL Championship and USL League 1. El Paso is in a six-team group with four other USL Championship teams and AV Alta. One team will advance out of the Locomotive’s groups into the quarterfinals.
El Paso earlier beat Orange County FC in this competition so it is sitting on three points.
There are three points offered every match. If regulation ends in a tie, the match goes straight to a penalty shootout. The winner of the shootout gets two points (so it drops a point from the three on offer) while the loser gets one point.
El Paso Locomotive promotions this week
Wednesday’s 7 p.m. kickoff against AV Alta (a USL League 1 team based in Lancaster, Calif.) features a canvas tote bag giveaway and $1 Busch Light. Saturday’s USL Championship match against Lexington SC features a fireworks show after the conclusion of the 7 p.m. match.
Of note, newly signed attacker Cristo Fernández, the actor from Ted Lasso, is with the Locomotive but due to visa issues is not yet eligible to appear in a game.
The Locomotive currently stand fourth in the Western Division of the USL Championship with 20 points. Lexington is 11th in the Western Division with nine points.
Locomotive World Cup call-ups
The Locomotive will be without two players who have been summoned to national duty. Midfielder Carl Sainté is already with Haiti, which begins play in the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 13 against Scotland. He will rejoin the Locomotive as soon as Haiti’s run in the World Cup is over.
Defender Nicolás Cardona will be joining Puerto Rico after this week’s games for a pair of June friendlies (Puerto Rico did not qualify for the World Cup). Puerto Rico plays Saudi Arabia on June 5 in Austin, then plays Iran on June 9 in a closed-door match in Tucson.
FIFA financially compensates club teams who lose players to World cup rosters by paying their clubs $10,000 per day the player is gone. That is something USL teams take into account when signing players.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Locomotive looks to turn season around in Prinx Tires Cup play
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
