Hat tricked: Cabrera, El Paso Locomotive run over United

Forgive New Mexico United fans if they’ve seen just about enough of Andy Cabrera this season.

Cabrera, a winger for El Paso Locomotive FC, was already none too popular with the NMU faithful going into Saturday night’s rivalry match. He enhanced that ill will exponentially by scoring all three goals in a 3-0 Locos rout at El Paso’s Southwest University Park.

United (5-2-0) had no answer for Cabrera, who scored on a first-half header and added two more tallies in the second half. El Paso (3-2-3) snapped a three-game USL Championship losing streak to New Mexico in the Derby del Camino Real barely two weeks after knocking United out of this year’s U.S. Open Cup.

Cabrera played a key role in that match, too, scoring a tying goal in the dying seconds of second-half stoppage time. El Paso later won a penalty shootout to oust United from the tournament.

There was no such late drama Saturday as Locomotive FC dominated most of the action. El Paso outshot United 21-8 (8-5 in shots on target) and simply played with more urgency in front of a boisterous home crowd.

"A bit of humble pie," United coach Dennis Sanchez said in a postgame interview. "We can talk about tactics, we can talk about moments in the game, but they obviously wanted it more than us tonight."

New Mexico had its five-match league winning streak snapped along with a lengthy shutout streak that ended after 370 minutes on Cabrera’s first goal of the night.

New Mexico had a chance to grab an early lead when McKinze Gaines created an opening on the right wing in the third minute. His shot was deflected over the crossbar, however, and the tide soon changed in the home team’s favor.

After misfiring on a pair of open chances in front of the goal, El Paso got on the board on a well-executed goal in the 11th minute. Gabriel Torres hit a well-placed chip from left of the NMU box, and Cabrera rose to head the ball between two defenders and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

New Mexico’s midfield passing was not sharp for much of the night and Locomotive FC took advantage with numerous takeaways and transition chances. Only a pair of acrobatic saves by NMU goalkeeper Alex Tambakis kept the margin at 1-0 until halftime.

"I look at myself first," Sanchez said. "We weren't as sharp as we normally are, especially with the ball."

The trend continued early in the second half as United turned the ball over near midfield in the 51st minute. Cabrera raced up the center of the pitch unmarked, settled a centering pass from Beto Avila and calmly blasted it into the right upper corner of the goal to make the score 2-0.

After conceding for a second time, New Mexico finally began to create some quality chances. Marlon Vargas and second-half substitute Daniel Bruce got looks at the goal but their shots were grabbed and/or turned away by El Paso goalkeeper Jahmali Waite.

Cabrera eliminated any remaining suspense in the 83rd minute, capitalizing on another United turnover and scoring on a low driving shot from the right wing. Cabrera finished the night with nine goals in all competitions this season, four of them against New Mexico.

The two archrivals did not finish the evening without some pushing and shoving following a yellow card issued to NMU’s Thomas Amang. The stoppage-time exchange was quickly broken up without serious incident.

"The reality is, we're a good team and we're gonna get everyone's best shot," Sanchez said. "Give El Paso credit, they were the better team tonight, but we can be better and we will be better."

It was the fourth meeting between El Paso and New Mexico since late February, including a preseason match and United’s 1-0 regular-season victory at Isotopes Park. The teams are not scheduled to meet again but could end up squaring off in either Jagermeister Cup play or the USLC postseason.

New Mexico returns home next Saturday to host another rival club, Phoenix Rising FC, at 7 p.m. at Isotopes Park.