Image: Darren Abate, SAFC
With its injury list ballooning at the wrong time, San Antonio FC enters the US Open Cup in the Round of 32 on Wednesday as it travels to take on fellow USL Championship side Indy Eleven.
Even ahead of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home against Oakland Roots SC, SAFC’s injury list was starting to grow uncomfortably long with five players ruled out before the match and another coming off in the first half. According to head coach Alen Marcina, that leaves his team with just a couple of fit senior players on the bench, after which the responsibilities would fall to young players on academy contracts.
“We know it’s going to be tough, knowing that the game is just a few days away, so I think we just focus on recovery right now and take all the positives from tonight,” said Kevon Lambert, who has taken the captain’s armband and moved from central midfield to the defense due to the team’s recent injuries, after Saturday’s match. “We had a lot of positives from the game tonight and if we take those positives and build on some of the things that we saw, that we can build on from tonight as well going into that game, I think we should be fine.”
Marcina hasn’t been afraid to trust academy players in the Open Cup before, which could provide a reprieve for the thinning senior squad as it navigates its first three-match week of the season, but he usually did so at home against lower-league opposition in recent years. With SAFC entering later in this year’s edition of the tournament and facing a team from its own league on the road, the circumstances aren’t as friendly for their inclusion – but SAFC might have no choice.
With just a quarter of the 32 remaining teams in the Open Cup coming from MLS due to its disinterest in and disrespect for the competition this year, every lower-league club remaining will see this year’s edition of the competition as its best chance at a deep run. The winner of Indy and SAFC’s match will host either Detroit City FC, a fellow USL Championship club, or MLS’s Houston Dynamo FC in the Round of 16
KICKOFF: 6pm CT (7pm ET) on Wednesday, May 8, at the Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis, IN
HOW TO FOLLOW: YouTube, #INDvSA, #USOC2024
LEAGUE RECORDS: IND: 3W-2D-4L (11 pts, -3 GD, 6th in the East in the USL Championship) | SAFC: 3W-4D-2L (13 pts, +3 GD, 5th in the West in the USL Championship)
LAST TIME OUT: Indy beat Monterey Bay FC 1-0 on the road Saturday, courtesy of an 88th-minute goal from former SAFC forward Elliot Collier. SAFC played to a 2-2 draw at home against Oakland Roots SC that same night in a match that was quiet in the first half and seesawed wildly and dramatically in the second.
CUP RUNS: While SAFC is entering the competition in this round, Indy booked its place in the Round of 32 with a 1-0 away win over Chicago Fire FC II on April 17, being outshot 22-8 but creating the better chances and scoring on one in the fourth minute.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
IND: Cameron Lindley, central midfielder – First off, as a former SAFC player, Lindley may feel extra motivation to show up his former team and end its cup run right as it begins this year. Lindley was a consistent starter for SAFC for most of the 2021 season before falling out of favor at the end and moving on in the offseason.
Setting narrative aside though, Lindley remains one of the most dangerous passers in the USL Championship, consistently creating chances for teammates and seeing them turned in often since leaving SAFC. While none of his team-leading 14 chances created this year have turned into goals, he led Indy in 2023 with 60 chances created and eight assists and aided Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC’s attack in 2022 with a league-leading 99 chances created, nine of which were turned into goals.
Lindley is also a key part of Indy’s buildup, making the second-most passes on the team with 389, so he’s likely to be key in making SAFC chase the ball around and expending its already-depleted energy. Off the ball, he also puts in work with 17 tackles and 10 interceptions, ranking second on the team in both categories.
SAFC: Kameron Lacey, forward – One of the younger players on SAFC’s roster, Lacey has featured frequently this season even if it’s usually been as a substitute, often injecting energy into the offense. Although he hasn’t scored a goal yet, he has contributed an assist and put six of his eight shots on target while also taking part in 52 duels as part of SAFC’s press.
“That’s what we signed Lacey for, he’s a high-energy person, high-energy player,” Marcina said Saturday. “That’s the expectation, starting a game or entering the game, is to bring that intensity (and) energy, your teammates will feed off you – he did well.”
Ignore the stats, that energy is the most important thing Lacey can bring right now, especially during a busy week with a depleted squad. SAFC needs somebody who is young and energetic to push his teammates to give all they can by setting an energetic example.
KEY TO THE MATCH: Play smart, not hard
While Lacey can inject energy into SAFC’s team, it’s not the wisest thing for players to just run around and use their energy frivolously. Given the circumstances – a busy week, a depleted squad and playing away from home – SAFC needs to be wise about how it conducts itself.
“It’s more of a mental thing than anything – physically, your body might be telling you one thing, but it’s all about winning that mental battle with yourself,” said SAFC midfielder Mohamed Omar on Saturday. “We have a great group, we lean on one another on the field (and) off the field. The coaching staff, they’re going to put in the gameplan for us and we’re just going to go out there and execute it.”
Of course, playing smarter rather than just harder is more easily said than done, especially for SAFC with the aggressive pressing that remains a part of its style. Like it or not though, SAFC can’t just press and control every match, so it needs to be efficient when possible, and the circumstances and stakes Wednesday make it an especially important day to do so.
Bluish Moon 