An In-Depth Look at El Farolito’s Championship Performance with NPSL.com’s Michael Lewis
Like father, like son.
Some 31 years ago, Salvador Lopez directed Club Deportivo Mexico to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title.
The team, renamed El Farolito, celebrated its second national championship, with his son, Santiago, at the helm
The San Francisco-based team overcame FC Motown behind a 2-1 victory in a lightning-delayed encounter at Ranger Stadium on the campus of Drew University on Saturday night.
Forward Erik Arias struck snapped a 1-1 deadlock in the 64th minute for the game-winning goal for 10-man El Farolito, which played the final 22 minutes of regulation and seven minutes of stoppage time a man down after Jonatan Valdivia was given his marching orders for his second yellow card.
El Farolito finished the season unbeaten with a 14-0-3 record as FC Motown, the 2022 NPSL champions, suffered its first loss of the campaign.
“I’m proud of my team,” Arias said. “Honestly, we came a long way throughout the whole season. We worked very hard to accomplish this goal. And this great, great feeling to being a champion this year.”
Not surprisingly, it was an emotional night for Santiago Lopez and his team, which celebrated its rare achievement.
“Very because my father did in ’93 at a national stage now we’re here [31] years and doing it,” he said. “It’s amazing. Obviously, we have to adapt to the soccer landscape but it’s a national title and it’s very important to the family and obviously to the organization.”
Lopez might have been the architect of the team, but he realized who did the heavy lifting on the field – his team.
“I’m very fortunate to have a group of players that are very amazing, on the field and even better outside,” he said. “This is all honor to my father, my family who have supported me with all this. It means a lot because it builds trust. We’re going in the right direction for the club to grow in the future, hoping that the landscape in U.S. Soccer is going to improve which I truly hope so. I believe it will so it’s good title to put on crest.”
Salvador Lopez, who formed the club in 1985, passed away in 2021.
The match had a 7:00 pm ET starting time but was twice delayed by lightning. It finally kicked off after a two hour and 11-minute wait at 9:11 pm ET.
“It’s never happened before we just we don’t have these types of delays on the west coast,” Lopez said. “It was very, very different. It also was a positive thing because we ended up seeing their starting lineup. I already identified those numbers, and I knew exactly how they were going to play. We identified those players, and we did the matchups in the first half which we kept the score line zero. We adapted to the game very well. It worked out at the end.”
The opening 20 minutes had a flurry of chances by both teams, but no goals. The rest of the half became a physical affair as referee Patrick Manga meted out six of his 10 yellow cards. El Farolito was slapped with six yellows, FC Motown four.
The teams returned to playing soccer in the second half as they took turns on trying to solve the opposing goalkeeper as all the goals were scored during an eight-minute span.
An FC Motown player was called for a handball in the box and El Farolito was awarded a penalty kick. Jhohann Yabur converted with a hard shot into the lower left corner past a diving goalkeeper to lift El Farolito for a 1-0 lead the 54th minute.
El Farolito’s celebration, however, was short-lived as Christopher Bermudez struck for the equalizer. A fine individual effort by Maudwindo Germain on the left flank set up Bermudez, who drilled a shot from atop the area past keeper Johan Lizarralde two minutes later in the 56th minute.
“It gives us momentum again, to pick things up and to try to score again,” Bermudez said.
But El Farolito re-established its momentum, retaking the lead in the 62nd minute as Arias fired home a 12-yard shot into the lower left corner past Schaffer for what turned into the eventual game-winner.
“It was it was a play we actually practice throughout the season,” Arias said. “It was a cross and I hit it. The first one I thought was a great hit, but it came back as a rebound and I was able to get it again…..It was just a great feeling after that.”
El Farolito, however, was reduced to 10 men in the 68th minute after Valdivia committed a hard foul in his defensive third and was awarded his second yellow card of the match in the 68th minute.
The visiting side managed to hold off several11th-hour attempts to tie by FC Motown.
“It just shows that we have perseverance and a team that fights to the end,” Arias said. “We never let down. We always try to do our best. We never back off the other team.”
FC Motown competed in its third NPSL final in seven years. It hosted the 2018 championship game, losing to Miami FC 2, 3-1, before besting Crossfire Redmond, 4-3, in 2022.
“We feel sad,” Germain said. “We gave all that we can give.”
Added Bermudez: “Obviously upset not to come away with the title after a great season. It feels good to make the final and it shows you know the effort and everything we put in. But a final can go either way, right. So just proud of everyone, the coaches, the staff, the ownership group to make it this far.”
El Farolito was elated, returning home to celebrate the title, but not necessarily where you might think.
“Probably it won’t be in San Francisco,” Lopez said. “These guys want to go to Las Vegas. So maybe we’re going to go over there and celebrate next weekend.”
You certainly can’t blame them.
After all, how many times does any team get an opportunity to win a national championship?
Photo Credit: Mike Langish/NPSL.com
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