SAN DIEGO — Landon Donovan and his SD Loyl squad are heading to Sin City this weekend to take on the Las Vegas Lights for the third time in the 2020 revised season.
The two teams went toe to toe in front of a sold-out crowd on March 7 for SD Loyal’s inaugural match. The match finished in a 1-1 tie and it was the last home match before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped play. The season resumed and the next SD Loyal home match was again against Las Vegas Lights FC on July 25. SD Loyal beat the visitors 2-1.
Saturday’s game is the first away match for the team since the restart of the 2020 season. This time, SD Loyal will travel by bus. The first ride will be to Nevada where it will face Las Vegas Lights FC. This will be the final game of the season against the Las Vegas team for the SD Loyal.
SD Loyal goes into Saturday’s match in first place in the Group B standings with a 3-1-2 record and 11 points. Donovan said he has seen improvement in his squad since the last time it met Las Vegas Lights on July 11.
“We played them twice now, so, we know them very well,” Donovan said. “It will be a very good game. The first time that they came (to USD Torero Stadium), I thought they were a much better team. We were not that night in March. And then our game last weekend, I thought we were pretty good, so, we need to build on that performance and tonight could have been better. But obviously, is going to be difficult because the heat is a challenge. This will be the first time traveling this far by bus and we got to make sure we are going with all that in stride and make the best out of it. We’ve been excellent on the road this year and I expect the same thing.”
The game will kick off on August 8 at 7:30 p.m. and can be watched locally on The CW San Diego.
