The weekend’s professional soccer lineup in South Texas features two games between competing organizations on consecutive nights. The Texas Two Step starts tonight in Edinburg as the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros host Real Monarchs SLC at 7:30 p.m. CDT at the UTRFV Soccer and Track Complex. The game will be streamed live above and here.
The Toros have already displayed a steely road mentality, with three road wins and a draw from five away contests. Now, RGV FC will try to reward their new fans win a home victory for the first time.
RGV FC (3-2-1, 6 points) beat the Monarchs, 1-0, at Rio Tinto Stadium in the only previous meeting on April 23 as Jose Escalante scored his first USL goal. Real Monarchs (2-3-2, 8 points) are winless in their last four games.
Three Houston Dynamo players – Mauro Manotas, Rob Lovejoy and Sebastien Ibeagha – joined RGV FC on loan for the entire week of training and are available for selection tonight. Lovejoy scored twice and Manotas added one goal in last week's 3-2 win at San Antonio FC.
The Toros are in a four-way tie for fifth place in the USL's Western Conference. A win could lift RGV as high as third in the standings.
*Note: The Dynamo and RGV FC have a hybrid affiliation, with the Dynamo in control of all technical aspects of the soccer operation, including the construction of the roster and the coaching staff. Meanwhile, the McAllen, Texas based Rio Grande Valley Vipers run the business operations, including the current construction of a 9,400 seat soccer stadium that will resemble Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium.
