Struggles away from home continue for the Toros.

Last week, the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros went on the road once again and they faltered to Western Conference-leading Tulsa Roughnecks FC by final of 2-1.

It was a game that the Toros had some Houston Dynamo loanees like Erik McCue, Michael Nelson, and Juan David Cabezas. Tulsa earned a penalty as Andrew Samuels committed a foul inside the box. Rodrigo Da Costa converted the spot-kick to give them a 1-0 lead. As the first half was ending, the Roughnecks scored once again as Fabian Bastidas fired a shot into the top corner to make it 2-0.

After the break, the Toros made a change as Cabezas made way for Nico Lemoine to hopefully find a bit of spark on offense. The Toros pushed the action throughout the second half. In the 70th minute, Brownsville native Isidro Martinez fired a cross into the box and found substitute Lemoine to cut the deficit in half.

The Toros tried to push for a late equalizer as Michael Salazar and Wilmer Cabrera were brought on as subs but no dice. Now, RGVFC have a 0-2-1 record on road games. The season remains young, but the Toros need to improve very quickly.

Up next for the Toros

The Toros have three straight matches at home beginning with New Mexico United on Saturday. New Mexico is led by Spanish forward Santi Moar, and defenders Manny Padilla (a former Toro) and Josh Suggs (USL veteran). The home stretch also includes OKC Energy and the Eric Wynalda-led Las Vegas Lights. Moreover, this is a great opportunity for the Toros to make some ground on the rest of the conference.

The key for the Toros to get the three points is to have:

• crisp, clean passes in the offensive third,
• limiting the early goals on defense,
• and getting shots on the target.

Main photo courtesy of Lori Scholl.