There’s a first time for everything, and this weekend, San Antonio FC will experience its first-ever USL playoff match. Now, as they head into one of their biggest matches to date, the team will have the chance to go through the milestone along with their home fans at Toyota Field. In a match as significant as a playoff debut, home field advantage can be an invaluable asset.

“I think it was very important (to be able to host) for our city and what we set out to do at the beginning of the year,” SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell said. “We wanted to make sure that we played at home if we made it to the playoffs because the fans in San Antonio have been fantastic since day one.”

In its second year in existence, SAFC enjoyed a very successful regular season, finishing second in the USL Western Conference, securing a playoff berth with a month left in the season, and earning a home playoff seed in the club’s penultimate match of the season. SAFC put on the best overall defensive performances in the league over the course of the regular season, conceding just 24 goals and recording the most clean sheets (15), while their four losses were the fewest tallied by any team.