SAN ANTONIO – As the football season ends — the North American kind with halftime performances by Bad Bunny, playoffs in the snow and questionable calls by referees — fans turn to basketball and the upcoming March Madness.
At the same time, teams are preparing for the upcoming soccer season. In the Alamo City, San Antonio FC gears up for its second season under head coach Carlos Llamosa.
In 2025, SAFC began its season with an impressive four-game winning streak, the best in franchise history. The undefeated start earned Llamosa USL Championship Coach of the Month honors for March.
Now, Llamosa is concentrating on starting the 2026 season strong again, and this time, a healthy roster is on his side.
“Obviously, we didn’t achieve what we tried to achieve last year, but we created a foundation for the 2026 season‚” Llamosa told KSAT Thursday. “We have new faces, the guys show up to the preseason in good shape, so that’s a plus, that’s different from a year ago.”
After the hot start in 2025, San Antonio FC struggled. They barely made the playoffs and lost 2-0 in their quarterfinal matchup with New Mexico United, a team they had lost to three times in their four meetings last season.
Midfielder Luke Haakenson, who is returning for his third year with San Antonio FC, explained how the offseason went since that November season finale.
“We stayed busy over the offseason; it felt too long, the guys were ready to get back, which is great,” Haakenson said. “Mitch (Taintor) lives here in town. He’s here year-round, (and) he’s usually running stuff. We look to him to set an example. If you see him around the stadium running or getting in laps around the field, you can definitely see Mitch out here for sure.”
SAFC only has four new players to add from last year’s squad: defender Akeem Ward, forward Christian Sorto and midfielder Mikey Maldonado.
Also rejoining San Antonio is forward Cristian Parano, who had two previous stops in the Alamo City and spent the last few seasons with the Sacramento Republic.
SAFC begins its preseason on Friday at Austin FC. The team released its preseason schedule on Friday. Austin FC is just one of its opponents in Major League Soccer during the six-game window.
San Antonio will open their regular season at home on Saturday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Toyota Field. For full regular season details, click here.
You can catch the latest on San Antonio FC each week during KSAT Sports Now, streaming live Monday through Friday at 7:00 p.m. on KSAT Plus and KSAT.com.
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