Know Your 2026 Playoff Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC

Sacramento has made it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in three years. After dispatching Tulsa in the first round, thanks to a late goal from Blake Willey, Sacramento is set to square off against El Paso Locomotive. The two teams met recently in the homestretch of the regular season, with the Republic taking the win in El Paso.

El Paso had to get past their fellow Texas side, San Antonio, to make it to the next round. The highlight for the Locomotive must be the 8-game winning streak that helped them claim one of the home seeds in these playoffs. This is a potent attack that will line up against the Republic.

Tale of the Tape:

All-time record: 6W-0D-8L

Republic 2026 Home Record: 9W-4D-2L. 27GF-14GA.

El Paso 2026 Away Record: 8W-2D-5L. 25GF-16GA.

Previous matchups this season:

3/28/26: 1-2 loss vs. El Paso.

10/17/26: 1-0 win at El Paso.

El Paso Locomotive FC

Manager: Junior Gonzalez

Formation: 343

Regular Season W-L-D: 15-5-10

Last 5 Games: LWLLW

Players to Watch: Rubio Rubin, Eric Calvillo

Top Goalscorers: Rubio Rubin - 17 goals

Top Assists: Eric Calvillo - 5 assists

Top Yellow Cards: Arturo Ortiz - 10 yellow cards

Top Red Cards: Arturo Ortiz - 2 red cards

Going Streaking: This will be a matchup between two sides who have set impressive marks of consistency this season. El Paso had a franchise-setting 8-game win streak that rocketed them to the top of the Western Conference standings. There, they held on to the top spot until the final day of the regular season, when a combination of results dropped them to the third seed. The win streak included wins against five future playoff sides (San Antonio, Colorado Springs, Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Phoenix). El Paso outscored their opponents 17 to 7 as they earned a clean sheet in the first four contests of this streak. Granted, the Locomotive came back down to Earth toward the end of the season, recording only one additional win in their final five matches. El Paso lost three of those five matches, to Lexington, Sacramento, and New Mexico.

Memo opens the goal scoring for the Republic 💪 https://t.co/mZpbjFXIuR

— Sacramento Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) October 18, 2026

Superb Scorers: Of course, you have to look at Rubio Rubin to lead the El Paso line. He finished second in the Golden Boot race this year, losing to Phoenix's Ihsan Sacko on the last day of the regular season. During El Paso's winning streak, Rubin picked up 7 of El Paso's 17 goals. Rubin accounts for 17 of El Paso's 50 goals this season, or 34%. El Paso wants to find Rubin on the run, slashing past a defense. Either via a cross from the flank to find Rubin making the late run in, or on a line-breaking through ball to get behind a defense. Rubin is a dangerous player when he is allowed to get up to speed.

If you take Kyle Edwards and Memo Rodriguez out of this Republic squad, the next-highest goalscorer is Tyler Wolff with five goals. And then behind him are Michel Benitez and Foster Ajago at three goals apiece. The Republic really doesn't have a consistent secondary threat outside of Edwards and Memo. But if you take away Rubio Rubin from the El Paso squad, you still have to deal with Alex Mendez and Armando Moreno with nine and eight goals, respectively. Yet, Moreno has not been featured in the El Paso lineup since the last clash between these sides in mid-October. This trend carries over to assists too, as Memo Rodriguez tops the assists charts for the Republic with 9 this season. But after him, there's a gap to Jack Gurr's count of 4 assists. Of course, Gurr had injuries this season, so his numbers were lower than usual. But in El Paso, Eric Calvillo has five assists to lead the way. But behind him are a trio of Locomotive players, Armando Moreno, Rubio Rubin, and Alex Mendez, each with four assists.

Rubio Rubín opens the scoring for @eplocomotivefc in the playoff edition of @copatejas! 🚂 https://t.co/CUUxxvXE6T

— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) October 31, 2026

Fighting Back: The playoffs are filled with adversity. Not everything will go your way. The question is, if you get hit, can you come back and hit back harder? For this El Paso side, it is doubtful. Looking at the regular season's results, El Paso has picked up only 6 points from losing positions, one win and three draws. This is compared to the Republic's 15 points from losing positions, 3 wins and 6 draws. In six matches in the Republic's unbeaten streak, they came back from a losing position to secure a draw or a win. Those matches were the draws against Monterey, Orange County, Tulsa, and Colorado Springs. And then the wins against Las Vegas and, most recently, the season finale against Oakland.

That said, El Paso looks good if they can score first. Out of the 30 league matches they've played, El Paso scored first in 14 of them. They've dropped only four of those matches, losing once and drawing three times. Ironically, the loss came against a non-playoff opponent, the Oakland Roots. And those draws were against New Mexico, Detroit, and Phoenix. But the Locomotive has not dropped a league game from a winning position since June.

Republic's Way to Victory: Come out of the gates strong and force this El Paso line back. Take the lead, then force this El Paso attack that wants to run and try to break the Republic defensive stance. I mean, we got a taste of what's to come back in October. 10 offsides calls in that match is not a fluke. The Republic defense will need to stay disciplined and track all their runners so they don't let El Paso go on the break. Limit Rubio Rubin's time on the ball, and if he does get on it, force him into the wide areas. Make someone else besides Rubin beat you. They did that once already this season, limiting Rubin to one shot on target in the October matchup. Force El Paso to go through all their backup plans that do not go through Rubin. Take advantage of the space they'll give down the wings, as El Paso packs the box.