PEORIA, Ill. and TAMPA Fla. - Peoria City has been down on their luck lately, playing well but not ending up with a victory in their last two league games. Despite outshooting both opponents, including rival Des Moines Menace, the Carps had zero points to show for it and needed to shift the momentum back in their direction. 

“I felt like we lost a little bit of our hunger to finish our opportunities,” said Peoria City Head Coach Mike Paye. “We needed a bounce- back game.” 

With 10 days between games in USL League Two, Peoria got the result they needed against an international opponent. Atlas FC’s U23 squad, who compete in the Liga MX U23 Clausura, set up a preseason schedule against multiple League Two clubs after seeing another Mexican squad do the same. 

“[Over the past two years] we’ve played Chivas de Guadalajara U23’s and Atlas saw that and how it was good competition for them and they asked if we were open to playing in their USA tour,” said Paye. 

Once the ball got rolling Friday night for this international friendly, Peoria shook off their rust, with Alfonso Gonzalez grabbing the lead four minutes in. The Spanish national ended the match with a hat trick and the team earned a decisive 6-1 victory. 

“We were confident and knew this was a great opportunity for me and my teammates to show what we can do as a team,” said Gonzalez. “I think you can learn a lot from playing against a [different style of play] to see what we do well and what we can improve.” 

The game allowed Peoria to further engage with the local Hispanic population, marketing it as an international match. 

“The Hispanic fanbase was larger than normal for us,” said Paye. “Getting the community the exposure to what international soccer is like is something that is good for the community.” 

The club sees how these games have brought them success on the field and with their supporters and hope to continue hosting international competition in the future. 

Atlas’ tour resumed Sunday against Northern Indiana FC, who took home a 4-1 victory over the Mexican side. They will continue their tour of USL League Two Central Conference opponents tomorrow against the Flint City Bucks before concluding the preseason tour this Saturday at Fort Wayne FC.