Not one, not two, but THREE stories were written on the exhibition match in the El Paso Times. Check 'em out at elpasotimes.com. The first was front page about the Sun Bowl and crowd reaction, the next two are in sports (column and game story).

FRONT PAGE:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20020403-186886.shtml

GAME STORY:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/sports/todaysstories/20020403-186901.shtml

COLUMN:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/sports/joemuench/20020403-186906.shtml

Enjoy. These should help flesh out El Paso's soccer scene nicely for those who are curious.

sounded like a decent match. Thanks for the Links to the match reports. do you have anything which shows who played for LA? (I know Cobi didn't make the trip) Did Kev play all 90 mins in goal? Did Marshall play?

good luck this season.

click here for match report and LA starting lineup. http://www.lagalaxy.com/r20020403.html

I'd already seen that..thanks.

Not a bad crowd considering it was a Tuesday night. The Patriots represented the A-League well against the Galaxy.

I have been meaning to post my thoughts on the game for a while, but i would keep forgetting. SO here you go, an e-mail I sent out a while ago to a curious fan:

*************,

Hello. In regards to your curiosity about the match, it went pretty well. More than 7,000 El Pasoans showed up. The crowd was divided up into 90%/10% in favor of the Patriots. The Pat's looked quite well in my opinion. There were two players who stood out in my mind, but for two entire different reasons. Defensemen Carlos Martinez looked exceptionally well. To me, it seems like he has improved quite a bit since last season. He played very smart - he was patient, good speed, he did not overcommit when going one-on-one with an attacker. On the other end of the spectrum, there is Guillermo McFarlane, also a defensemen. You can tell that the years have finally caught up with him (Ypu could tell last year too, but Tuesday night it was quite obvious). He has slowed down quite a bit. I am not sure how useful he will be to the team (if at all).

As for the rest of the team, I felt that they did an exceptional job under the circumstances (the team has probably only been working together for a month or so [ if not weeks]). The defense looks quite solid for it being so early in the season. Both goals came on dead ball situations - a penalty shot and a very well taken free kick. Midfield, IMO, could use more organization and work. However, I do admit that the Galaxy are a more superior team, so that could probably be the reason they were unable to do anything. Anyways, they were unable to get the ball upfield. Hopefully as April 20th approaches, this will improve. Finally as for our offense, the jury is still out. Either the Galaxy's defense was that good, or we need some work up front. They did have their chances, but were unable to capitalize. Also keep in mind that the midfield was unable to get the ball up field for most of the game, so that could be a huge factor. Overall, it seems we have a lot of speed and some skill with the ball. Two very good signs. IMO

Well if you need anymore info on the team, feel free to e-mail me or just check out the forum at usldiscussions.com. Take care

chuy

PS Hope to see you at the games this summer! Go Pat's!

Forgot to mention to the fan that he should check out the three articles Duke put up for more info on the match.