El Farolito’s Santiago Lopez Prepares for a Return to the National Stage

By Sean Maslin/NPSL.com

Championship matches always bring new challenges and new situations for clubs and for El Farolito, Saturday night’s NPSL National Championship game is no different.  Traveling across the country to face an unfamiliar foe in FC Motown, Farolito are looking for their first bite of an NPSL National Championship. 

“We are excited to be traveling across the country and taking on Motown in the finals,” said El Farolito head coach Santiago Lopez. “It’s always a great time to be with the group and have these experiences with all these great players and then, obviously, learn new experience about the game.  Getting to play another team from a different region in the NPSL is good exposure for our club and our players.”

Farolito, who are named after a restaurant chain in the San Francisco area, comes into the final in strong form, having won the Golden Gate Conference with an undefeated record (9-3-0, 30 points).  In the Golden Gate Conference playoffs, they pulled off consecutive narrow victories over Sacramento Gold FC (4-2) and Napa Valley 1839 FC (3-2) to book their spot in the West Region Playoffs.  After dispatching FC Arizona 4-1, they held off Duluth FC 3-0 in the NPSL National Semifinals.

A club steeped in American soccer history (they won the U.S. Open Cup as San Francisco CD Mexico in 1993), Farolito have thrived under Lopez and in the NPSL.  Lopez, who played for multiple clubs in Mexico and was a reserve team member for Necaxa, has led the club since 2010 and has during that time frame helped them capture the Golden Gate Conference title four times and earn the West Region Championship. 

“Playing in the NPSL has been an amazing experience for us,” said Lopez. “We have had Division 1 and Division 2 players come into our program and experience the intensity and high level of play in our [NPSL] region.  So playing in the league has helped them prepare for their college program and the professional game.  It has been a great experience for us, and we love exposing our players to different experiences and situations.”

One of Farolito’s keys to success this season has been their work in the attack.  Their 42 goals scored led the Golden Gate Conference and was third most across the entire NPSL this season. 

Their success in the attacking third isn’t necessarily from the efforts of one particular player but a testament to the team effort that each player puts in during every match.

“We have had some players step up and score some big goals not just up top but also in the defense and the midfield positions,” Lopez said. “We are just focused on going game-by-game preparing for each match differently and sticking to our game model.  Whether it is by set pieces, corner kicks, or in normal play we are focused on just getting the goals in, not so much who it is.”

That everyman approach was a key reason for Farolito’s success in the NPSL this season and in their run through the U.S. Open Cup.  They made it to the Third Round of this year’s competition, defeating MLS NEXT Pro’s Portland Timbers 2 (2-1) and USL League One’s Central Valley Fuego (2-1) before falling to Oakland Roots SC (2-1) in extra time. 

While their underdog run to the third round certainly drew the excitement of supporters across the country, Lopez has helped the team focus on how they can grow from the experience including working on their discipline in tough moments.

“Hopefully that experience helps us maintain our focus,” he said. “Obviously our players are conscious that they need to make better decisions, regarding yellow cards, and preventing red cards because that was a big factor in our elimination.  The intensity level will always be high in these types of matches so [playing in the Open Cup] was a good stepping stone and a good way to remember what we are looking for in these types of matches.”

Although Motown may be an unfamiliar opponent, for Lopez and Farolito their philosophy remains the same: win the first fifteen minutes of the match and have that set the tone. 

“It is important for us to set the pace and intensity early,” Lopez concluded. “From there our players individual tasks will become more identified.  But every minute is important and the entire team is looking forward to being focused the entire match and hopefully winning the game.” 

Photos Provided by El Farolito