SAN ANTONIO – On Oct. 19, 2019 -- the final day of the regular season -- San Antonio FC led Colorado Springs 2-nil in the second half. The team was 42 minutes away from clinching the club’s second-ever berth in the USL Championship playoffs and igniting a celebration with their fans at Toyota Field.
The dreams of that breakthrough moment evaporated along with the lead. The Alamo City club settled for a 2-2 draw, and missed the playoffs by one point.
Three months after that bitter defeat, SAFC is ready to turn the page. The club mutually parted ways with Darren Powell in the offseason and promoted first assistant coach Alen Marcina to head coach. With Marcina at the helm and new faces sprinkled across the roster, the team took the practice field on Monday for the start of training camp, and early reviews were positive.
“It’s day one, and we’re very, very excited as a staff to be on the field,” Marcina said. “The players are also very excited. As a collective, we’re excited to be out here and get this process going. Today the intention was just to get their bodies moving. We feel, initially, it’s about building relationships because we stress and preach that we’re a family here. If we’re able to build those relationships and trust, it’ll show on the field and our performance.”
“I can already tell that it’s a great group of guys," said newly-signed midfielder Jesus Enriquez. "The intensity that we showed during the first day is good. Things will get better. It wasn’t perfect, but I can tell that we have a good group to keep working and do great things this season.”
Another new face, defender Connor Maloney, echoed those sentiments. “Coming off a couple months of not training, I think it was the right mentality. Everyone was held accountable, especially to themselves, and I think that’s going to go a long way in our season. We’re going to ask every single person on this team to contribute in any way they can, whether that’s on the field, off the field or in the locker room.”
While there’s a lot of change for San Antonio fans to adjust to, there’s also plenty of familiar faces. That includes defender Joshua Yaro, who re-signed with SAFC after starting and playing in every league match last season and leading the club in clearances and blocks.
“If you’re going to play at this level, it doesn’t get better than San Antonio," Yaro said. "You look at the facilities and the staff that we have, and it was an easy decision, especially once Alen was named the coach. He’s a familiar face, one that I’ve worked with last year and enjoy playing with a lot. I thought it would be good to come back and I’m looking forward to finishing a lot of things that we didn’t do last year.”
Joining Yaro in returning to the roster is breakout sensation Cristian Parano. The reigning USL Championship Young Player of the Year blossomed into a dynamic offensive weapon for the Alamo City club in 2019, scoring seven goals and tallying six assists in 32 games.
“It’s a great feeling being back out here again," Parano said. "We have a very new group, a new team, but it’s exciting. We have a lot to work on, but overall, we’re excited for what’s to come.”
The 2020 season ramps up relatively quickly. San Antonio FC has five days to practice together before hosting OKC Energy in a preseason match on Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. The regular season will officially begin six weeks from now on March 7 against Real Monarchs SLC.