For the first time since joining the NPSL in 2018, El Farolito has made it to the NPSL’s national semifinals after a 4-1 win over FC Arizona at Kezar Stadium on Saturday night.
This is the third consecutive year that El Farolito has made it to the regional championship match. In 2023, they lost on a game-winning goal in stoppage time. In 2022, they lost in a penalty shootout.
After the match, Head Coach Santiago Lopez said he was relieved to finally move on to the next round.
“This is definitely a breather,” Lopez said. “Now we can focus on another stage. That was a lot of it for me, trying to transmit to the team to focus on our performance and our functioning as a team and not talk about the past.”
First Half Echoes Last Week’s Match
But getting there was much harder than it seemed from the lopsided scoreline.
From the opening whistle, it was clear that FC Arizona was packing the defensive half of the field, ceding possession to Farolito and eventually hoping to score on a counterattack.
Farolito appeared to have gotten off to an early lead in the 7th minute, but an apparent goal on a corner kick was disallowed for offside.
In the 13th minute, Farolito’s Jesus Martinez went down hard in the box after a collision with an Arizona defender, but no call was made.
Farolito finally broke through in the 18th minute. After a series of passes in the box, Kipre Sacre was there for the easy finish from close range.
But as the half went on, FC Arizona’s striker duo of Kyle Benjamin and Justin Provenzano started to cause problems for Farolito’s defense.
In the 21st minute, Benjamin got behind the Farolito back line and got off a shot that went wide.
In the 37th minute, Provenzano made a long run down the right side and got off a shot at the near post that goalkeeper Johan Lizarralde deflected over the end line for a corner kick.
And Arizona tied the match in the 44th minute on a goal by Benjamin, with an assist by Josue Murillo after a throw-in Farolito’s half.
The script was eerily similar to last week’s Golden Gate Conference championship match, in which Farolito took an early lead, then conceded an equalizer shortly before halftime.
“We settled in very well in the game and we noticed their way of attack and yeah, it was unfortunate that [we gave up] another set piece and the same thing happened,” Lopez said. “Halftime same talk [as last week]. This game is not over and the team came out very focused in the first and second half.”
Farolito Searches for Second Half Game Winner
The second half was all Farolito, though they struggled to break through with a potential game-winning goal. FC Arizona did not get any shots on goal, and rarely spent much time on Farolito’s side of the field.
In the 58th minute, Arizona’s Bryan Aceves grabbed Sacre’s jersey in the penalty area. Farolito’s players pleaded for a penalty, but the referee yellow carded Aceves.
El Farolito continued to create chances, including a shot by Gabriel Arias, an attempted header from Edgard Kreye, and a couple of shots from Aly Arriola.
But the turning point of the match didn’t come until the 67th minute, when the referee awarded a penalty kick after Erik Arias was violently tackled by Josue Murillo, who also received a yellow card. Aceves continued to argue and eventually received his second yellow card, resulting in his ejection.
After a delay of several minutes, Jhohann Yabur scored on the spot kick.
El Farolito protected their one-goal lead by showcasing their passing and dribbling abilities to melt some time off the clock, but the outcome didn’t feel completely certain until Arriola scored a pair of goals in the 88th and 89th minute to put the match out of reach.
“We were very aggressive in their half,” Lopez said. “They had zero chances in the second half, zero shots and yeah, we were fortunate that we got that penalty kick. And we closed out the game later on.”
Next Week
El Farolito gets to play its semifinal match at home, hosting Duluth FC (Minnesota) next weekend. The other semifinal matchup features hosts FC Motown (New Jersey) and Columbus United SC (Georgia).
