Studio 54: The Derek Lozano Era
Former New Mexico United Academy player Derek Lozano makes the match day roster in his first USL Championship game, wearing the #54.
Scrolling the names on the team sheet ahead of Friday night’s match against Miami FC, I was ecstatic to see “54 Lozano” at the end of the FotMob lineup graphic.
Derek Lozano, 19 years-old and from Santa Fe, played two seasons for the New Mexico United Academy after previously competing with the Colorado Rapids (MLS) Academy up in Aurora. But now he’ll be playing at home in front of friends and family as New Mexico United announced on September 5th that Lozano was the 12th Academy contract signing in team history. This will allow the young Lozano to play for the first team while retaining his amateur eligibility.
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EDIT: If you, like me, were wondering who the other 11 players are, here’s the rundown: Armando Muñoz-Zarate (the first player signed to a New Mexico United Academy contract, Aiden Semelsberger (#36), Cristian Nava (#45), Alex Waggoner (#72), Miles Merritt (#61), Andres Robles (#36), Dane Gallegos, Taylor Rogers, Jace Sais (#42), Jackson DuBois (#47) and Yuto Oketani (#58).
If there’s not a number next to their name, I’ve not found evidence that they were ever named to a match day squad for first team New Mexico United game in USL Championship or Open Cup play.
OK, back to the post.
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As United played Miami and I wondered if Lozano would get a run-out in his first ever pro game, I searched back through my text messages to the evening of June 19th, when during the middle of United’s international friendly against FC Juárez , I eagerly texted my friend (and yours), Andrew Bolte, the following message:
"54 Derek Lozano, you say?"
This was at the point of the match when New Mexico United had introduced the aforementioned Lozano, freshly clad in turquoise and uniform number 54, on to face our southerly neighbors from Liga MX. One of the many reasons I was hyped for the match was the hope to get a glimpse of young players who hadn’t gotten any (or many) minutes with the big team yet, and hopefully see a new uni number on the pitch.
I was thinking primarily of the trio of Jace Sais (#42), Jackson DuBois (#47) and Yuto Oketani (#58). The three players were already on Academy contracts but minutes had proven difficult to come by, especially for Sais and Oketani. So, I was giddy and a little surprised when it was Derek Lozano’s name that boomed over the loudspeaker at the Lab, announcing his entry to the match as a sub. At this point, he had been training with the first team and was working his way towards his eventual September signing, but at the time may have been a slightly lesser-known quantity than his counterparts who had already signed their Academy contracts.
Though Lozano was named to the team sheet in his first USL Championship match for New Mexico United on Friday night, he unfortunately didn’t take the pitch in a tight 1-nil United win. But alas, he did get entered into the all-time numerical roster as the first #54 in the first team’s history. Congrats, Derek!
With the addition of #54 Derek Lozano, the all-time United player count now stands at 85. As always, the all-time numerical roster can be found here.
