# 2023 El Paso Locomotive FC season

The 2023 El Paso Locomotive FC season was the fifth season for El Paso Locomotive FC in the USL Championship, the second tier of professional soccer in the United States and Canada.

## Staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Brian Clarhaut |
| Assistant coach | Marina Schachowskoj |
| Assistant coach | Gianluca Masucci |
| Assistant coach | Jon Burklo |
| Goalkeeping coach | Juan Carlos "JC" Garzon |
| Coordinator, equipment and player operations | Saul Soto |

## Roster

    As of September 5, 2023
| No. | Pos. | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Benny Díaz (on loan from Tijuana) | United States |
| 2 | DF | Marc Navarro | Spain |
| 4 | DF | Erik McCue | Sweden |
| 5 | DF | Éder Borelli | Mexico |
| 6 | MF | Eric Calvillo | El Salvador |
| 7 | FW | Aarón Gómez | Mexico |
| 8 | MF | Luis Moreno | United States |
| 9 | FW | Luis Solignac | Argentina |
| 10 | FW | Denys Kostyshyn | Ukraine |
| 11 | MF | Christopher Garcia | United States |
| 13 | GK | Javier Garcia | United States |
| 14 | DF | Ander Egiluz | United States |
| 15 | GK | Noah Dollenmayer | United States |
| 16 | DF | Miles Lyons | United States |
| 17 | FW | Ricardo Zacarías | United States |
| 19 | MF | Arun Basuljevic | United States |
| 20 | MF | Chapa Herrera | United States |
| 21 | FW | Emmanuel Sonupe | England |
| 22 | MF | Liam Rose | Australia |
| 23 | DF | José Carrillo | Spain |
| 24 | DF | Yuma | Spain |
| 27 | MF | Petar Petrović | Sweden |
| 31 | DF | Nick Hinds | United States |
| 46 | DF | Márton Demkó | Hungary |
| 57 | DF | Joseluis Villagomez | United States |
| 72 | DF | Finnley O'Brien | United States |
| 77 | MF | Diego Abarca | United States |
| 79 | GK | Rommel Tarin | United States |
| 80 | MF | Alejandro Estrada | United States |
| 88 | MF | Joel Maldonado | United States |
| 99 | GK | Santiago Vargas | United States |
| — | DF | Petur Knudsen | Faroe Islands |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | No. | Pos. | Player | From | Fee |
| October 28, 2022 | 77 | MF | Diego Abarca | El Paso Locomotive Academy | Free |
| October 28, 2022 | 88 | MF | Joel Maldonado | El Paso Locomotive Academy | Free |
| November 3, 2022 | 2 | DF | Marc Navarro | Free agent | Free |
| November 9, 2022 | 4 | DF | Erik McCue | AB Argir | Undisclosed |
| December 5, 2022 | 10 | MF | Denys Kostyshyn | FC Oleksandriya | Free |
| January 5, 2023 | 11 | FW | Christopher Garcia | Real Salt Lake | Free |
| January 6, 2023 | 13 | GK | Javier Garcia | Rio Grande Valley FC Toros | Free |
| January 11, 2023 | 27 | MF | Petar Petrović | Trelleborg | Free |
| January 27, 2023 | 3 | DF | Bence Pávkovics | Debreceni | Free |
| February 27, 2023 | 8 | MF | Luis Moreno | Houston Dynamo Academy | Free |
| June 26, 2023 | 23 | DF | José Carrillo | Finn Harps F.C. | Free |
| August 18, 2023 | | FW | Petur Knudsen | Lyngby Boldklub | Free |
| August 31, 2023 | 19 | MF | Arun Basuljevic | Free agent | Free |

### Loans in

| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned from | Start | End | Source |
| 1 | GK | Benny Díaz | Club Tijuana | January 18, 2023 | November 30, 2023 | |
| 15 | DF | Noah Dollenmayer | LAFC 2 | August 24, 2023 | November 30, 2023 | |

### USL Academy players

| No. | Pos. | Player |
| 46 | DF | Márton Demkó |
| 57 | DF | Joseluis Villagomez |
| 72 | DF | Finnley O'Brien |
| 79 | GK | Rommel Tarin |
| 80 | MF | Alejandro Estrada |
| 99 | GK | Santiago Vargas |

### Out

| Date | No. | Pos. | Player | To | Fee |
| October 10, 2022 | 13 | DF | Matt Bahner | Retirement | N/A |
| October 14, 2022 | 6 | MF | Richie Ryan | Retirement | N/A |
| October 18, 2022 | 12 | MF | Shavon John-Brown | Free agent | Free |
| October 18, 2022 | 23 | MF | Christiano François | Rio Grande Valley FC Toros | Free |
| October 18, 2022 | 27 | GK | Philipp Beigl | Free agent | Free |
| October 19, 2022 | 4 | DF | Andrew Fox | Orange County SC | Free |
| October 20, 2022 | 10 | MF | Dylan Mares | Louisville City FC | Free |
| January 19, 2023 | 33 | MF | Martín Payares | Mutual Agreement | Free |
| July 3, 2023 | 19 | MF | Artem Kholod | Mutual Agreement | Free |
| August 9, 2023 | 23 | DF | Bence Pávkovics | Vasas SC | Undisclosed |

## Competitive fixtures
### USL Championship
#### Standings — Western Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sacramento Republic FC | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 51 | 26 | +25 | 64 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Orange County SC | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 46 | 39 | +7 | 57 | Playoffs |
| 3 | San Diego Loyal SC | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 57 | Playoffs |
| 4 | San Antonio FC | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 63 | 38 | +25 | 56 | Playoffs |
| 5 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 53 | Playoffs |
| 6 | Phoenix Rising FC (C) | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 54 | 41 | +13 | 48 | Playoffs |
| 7 | El Paso Locomotive FC | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 41 | 51 | −10 | 47 | Playoffs |
| 8 | New Mexico United | 34 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 46 | Playoffs |
| 9 | Rio Grande Valley FC Toros | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 43 | |
| 10 | Oakland Roots SC | 34 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 42 | |
| 11 | Monterey Bay FC | 34 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 41 | |
| 12 | Las Vegas Lights FC | 34 | 3 | 21 | 10 | 36 | 66 | −30 | 19 | |

#### Match results
### U.S. Open Cup
## Awards and honors
### USL Championship Team of the Matchday

| Matchday | Player | Opponent | Position |
| 3 | Marc Navarro | Louisville City FC | DF |
| 4 | Denys Kostyshyn | FC Tulsa | FW |
| 7 | Éder Borelli | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | DF |
| 9 | Éder Borelli (2) | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | DF |
| 9 | Petar Petrović | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | MF |
| 10 | Benny Díaz | Loudoun United | GK |
| 13 | Éder Borelli (3) | New Mexico United | DF |
| 13 | Denys Kostyshyn (2) | New Mexico United | FW |
| 15 | Erik McCue | Tampa Bay Rowdies | DF |
| 18 | Erik McCue (2) | Monterey Bay FC | DF |
| 30 | Eric Calvillo | Charleston Battery | MF |
| 32 | Benny Díaz (2) | Oakland Roots SC | GK |

### Goal of the Matchday

| Matchday | Player | Opponent | Position | Ref |
| 7 | Petar Petrović | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | MF | |