Griego Scores Again, Narvaez Nabs Fourth Shutout As Patriots Jump Into Third Place


There was only one first for the Patriots in last night’s 1-0 El Paso win over the DFW Tornados, and that was a good thing.

Interim coach Javier McDonald earned his first win as head coach of the Premier Development League Patriots, but the other things El Paso accomplished were continuations of success from earlier this season.

For the second straight game Michael Griego scored a goal, making him responsible for both Patriot tallies on the weekend. Even more notable is that Griego becomes the first player this season to score more than one goal.

Goalkeeper Sebastián Narvaéz posted his fourth shutout of the season, too, knocking down huge save after huge save for a game Tornados team that pressed to earn points in spite of the hard desert heat.

DFW was without solid defensive midfielder Aaron Chibli, not to mention head coach Paul Robinson, after both were ejected in Friday’s 1-1 draw. Video archives of both Friday’s and Saturday’s games can be seen by following this link.

Perhaps most important is that – after a win (Saturday) and a tie (Friday) – El Paso leaps the Tornados and is now tied with the New Orleans Shell Shockers and the Baton Rouge Capitals in third place at 12 points (3-4-3 record) in the tough Mid-South Division.

Though that was in doubt much of the contest against a Tornados team that proved to be harder to handle Saturday than Friday. Though DFW tired after dealing with temperatures in the 90’s throughout the game, the Tornados had to press most of the game for an equalizer after Griego’s 15th minute goal.

But Narvaez and some stellar defensive work from John Crawley and the El Paso back line kept DFW out of the net and made Griego’s goal stick.

Though both teams had their opportunities, it was Jair Olivares’ perfectly-placed pass from midfield and Griego’s first-time volley that created the game’s only goal.

The Patriots have a huge opportunity this Friday and Saturday as defending PDL champion Laredo comes to Patriot Stadium. With two wins El Paso could tie Laredo for second place in the division. Now that he’s familiar with his team, McDonald will truly have an opportunity to make his mark.

There was one other first indirectly related to the Patriots. For the first time in the 18-year history of the franchise, junior assistant referee Martha Rivas became the first female to officiate a PDL match in El Paso. Rivas is a longtime member of the Soccer Referees Association of El Paso and frequent center referee for girls’ and women’s soccer matches throughout the area.

Despite its small size, the SRAEP has produced three Major League Soccer officials, and member Jaír Marrufo became the first FIFA certified official in the organization’s history.

Saw the goal, he is a very good striker. He is good in the air too. It looks like the staff change paid off. It would be nice to find another Griego, though Mudo and Griego had some pretty good plays together on Saturday.

Went to both games and the team looked more offensive and looks like there was an attitude change. Talked to a few guys after and are very pleased with the coaching change. Two wins this weekend against Laredo can really catapult this team to the top. Good for the coach he looked very intense on the sidelines.

Went to both of the games this weekend and was impressed with everything that I saw. I thought the crowd was good, but I still believe that with better advertising, the crowd could be great for every game, especially the upcoming series with Laredo. I thought that especially on Saturday the Patriots took advantage of the wide open midfield early and it paid off. I thought Jair played a very good game, but I was frustrated to see the Patriots go away from what was working early and got them the goal in the first place. It was good to see an increased number of El Paso players on the field and on the sidelines, and I hope that the city continues to support this team well.

The advertising is there, for what it is. With a small budget they can't really paste El Paso the way they'd need to do to truly raise awareness. Next step to me is more TV and radio coverage of their games, not just ads.

ElPasoPT, hearing from those in the know, they point to DFW missing Aaron Chibli as one of the reasons the midfield was so open, as you point out. He's apparently their closer at defensive mid, but was red-carded Friday night.

As for the coaching change, I can tell you all the players I spoke to -- El Pasoans and college guys -- absolutely respect Javier, saying he's already done more to bring them together. Sounds like this was a good move.

I agree with everything you have to say vox, and I absolutely agree with the togetherness that Javier is bringing to the team. He is such a nice guy and respected coach. Did you see him after the game thanking all the fans for coming to the game and introducing himself to those that did not know him. In regards to the comment about the lack of midfield presence, I agree that it had something to do with the absence of Chibli, as he is a solid defender that is very aggressive(he is one of the league leaders in fouls). By the way, is Chibli from El Paso, as he had a good number of family members and friends in the stands for the two games. He also lost a lot of credit as he was in the stands on Saturday with his coach, but that did not prevent them from discussing strategy and them Aaron discussing things with his dad during the game and relaying that info to the assistant coach on the sidelines (I'm sure you could see what was going on from the sidelines,vox). One last thing, has anyone thought about the Pats having each game where they have a sponser of a local business and offer some sort of a discount to the employees, as a way to increase attendance (such as local school districts, hospitals, and businesses).

Well,
I had heard the team was split but it did not appear so on Saturday. I even saw a couple of good plays where it was not just kick the ball and run like crazy. As for coach Javier, I think he may just surprise everyone. He has to clean up the mess that the last coach did and I hope things are moving in that direction. As for tickets, the Diablos have always given tickets away since I could barely waly I remeber going o watch free Diablo games. We live in a poor community and a split one at that. Hopefully Javier can bring things together along with Mr Cervantes. He deserves credit for making the right decision mid season. I really like the blond guy in playing full back. He is an excellent player. One thing the Pats could do to bring in more fans would be to give the players say 50 tickets, and have them give all fifty out, then return a list with perons names who pledge to go out and support the team in exchange for the free tickets. Don't need much of a budget to do that one. Also, it is the least the players could do to honor the Jersey they wear and represent. I think they had forgoten that they represent the community and El Paso. They should be reminded of that once in a while.

I figured Paul Robinson was relaying things through Chibli, though I couldn't see anything from the sweatbo...'scuze me, press box. (My man Mario Garcia is supposed to fix the electricity this week to keep us from having those problems with microphones and allow us to keep the AC on. I found out Mario is an electrician.)

As for local business sponsorships, I think businesses that sponsor do get a certain amount of free tickets to give out. The main issue is just awareness. People are aware of the team, but I hear the reaction is something like, "Oh, are they still around?" Gotta work on that.

As for the team, it is aware -- especially this week -- of what shirt they're wearing, local guys and college guys. "Beat LAredo" is a mantra right now. Javier did a lot of bringing together in less than a week. Some of the college guys who have played with their state and regional teams think he's just as good a coach as the national-level coaches they've had.

The blond centerback against DFW is a Scottish player from UNLV named James Crawley. Good man. Hugo Samano loves his work in the back. Hopefully, Jamie Cunningham will be returning as well.

As for getting folks out to the games, I really believe GM Alan Oatsvall is the man with the plan. The Patriots need to allow him to shape that plan and make things happen.

I have definitely seen positive steps forward for this team, I just hope they let the GM do his job, and I hope he can bring out the awareness as he did a great job of that with the Des Moines Menace. By the way vox, why do you think that Cunningham might be back on the team? From what people inside the organization were saying, it seemed like he had a bit of an attitude problem that was not well liked on the team. Good luck this weekend, I hope we get a good turnout. Thanks vox for all your hard work with the team, it definitely does not go unnoticed.

Thanks, elpasoPT.

I don't know if Cunningham was well-liked or not, but there is a new attitude and appreciation for both college players and local players now that Javier is the coach.

Cunningham is solid in the middle -- the only player as of now to have made PDL Team of the Week -- and the Pats could use his size and ability in the air.

I don't know for certain, but I hear he could come back now that things are working better.