The New Mexico home game was a high point for Reno 1868 FC’s 2019 season. It will be a landmark event for this season and for the club as a whole. That being said, how did they follow that up?

Reno 1868 FC would travel to El Paso for week eights match up with the El Paso Locomotive.

Pregame thoughts

I hadn’t thought about this match too much going into it. The week leading up to this match all I was thinking about was the New Mexico match. It did look like El Paso was a mid-conference team going into this. They might end up being one of the teams to have to fight to get one of the last spots the playoffs. Reno was looking good, and had a lot of momentum from their previous game that I was hoping would carry over into this game.

What happened in the first half?

Reno would have a chance to score at the 6th minute. It turned into a standard dive save for the El Paso keeper. El Paso would have a chance towards the 30th minute. Reno would get its best defensive effort it has seen all season to keep the ball out. The attacking player had a point-blank shot, the defender slid in to block the shot. All in all, it looked like a pretty standard half for both teams.

What happened in the second half?

El Paso would start off with a huge chance. The attacking player got the ball around the mid field. The defender put up a pretty weak challenge. This led to the player having a one on one with the keeper. The other two defenders rushed to get into the box to help out the keeper. The keeper came out of the box to challenge. His challenge failed. This lead to the attacking player getting behind him, but by the time he did the other 2 defenders where in the box. The El Paso player took a shot as the Reno player was coming up to challenge. The Reno player was able to block the ball, which effectively ended the play.

I’m not happy with the defensive effort shown it that situation. The defender that lost the first challenge ended up giving up on the play right then and there. I get coming out might be the best option for a keeper in a break away situation. He should have stayed in the box, and he should not have tried to slide tackle. If he stayed in the box he could have used his hands to get the ball. The moment he steps out of the box, he loses all his power over the attacking player.

Brian Brown had an amazing free kick. Just slightly unlucky. It was an amazing shot that if it was 2 inches lower it would have gone in. There is nothing more or less anyone could have done in that play.

The 76th minute. The penalty kick. The dive. The contact that got the call was minimal, but the USL has the worst refs in the game. It was called. I don’t like that call. Just watching replays pisses me off. It’s clear that the played dove. I don’t like refs that call dives. Even if it is a foul, if it is dive that dramatic it shouldn’t be a call. On top of that the player got up and got into the ref’s face. That shows no class. You dove, you got the call, you are going to get a free kick, why would you get in the ref’s face. El Paso scored on the penalty kick. The game as decided in that moment by a poor call by the ref.

Neither team would net anything else. The game would end. I still stand by the fact that the USL Championship refs suck.

After match thoughts

I don’t like that we lost. I don’t like the way we lost. I don’t like that the ref dictated the outcome of the game. I hate the direction the USL is going with its refereeing because it’s not improving. If anything, it’s getting worse. I think that there are some quick solutions to this problem but I don’t think that the USSF will allow them to happen. I think they way that the USSF has referees approved before they can be at a higher level is garbage. I don’t think that the growth of the game and the growth of refereeing are on the same level. I think that the game is expanding at a much higher rate than the refereeing. I see this as a major issue. I think that this issue is largely being caused by the USSF. I think it’s because of them not changing outdated polices. It could also be this way just to make money. Which I hate when sports organizations do things just for money.

Did we deserve to win? No. it did not seem that way. When our defense makes large mistakes, or plays inconsistent then we don’t.

Next match

May 4, 2019. That’s this weekend. Reno 1868 FC will be taking on the Tulsa Roughnecks FC. This week 9 match up will take place at Greater Nevada Field at 6:45pm. The team will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo.