This Saturday night, El Farolito will step onto the Kezar Stadium grass with a shot at back-to-back national titles.
For the second year in a row, the Mission-based squad of immigrants, part-timers, and full believers is playing for the National Premier Soccer League championship. But this time, they’re doing it at home, on natural grass, in San Francisco’s summer fog, with their families in the stands.
“Playing at home is a privilege,” said head coach Santiago López. “We want the community to know they have a team to be proud of. A team that belongs to San Francisco.”
The game caps a historic season. Farolito has already lifted the 2025 Steinbrecher Cup, making it the national amateur champion, and it was the last amateur team standing in this year’s U.S. Open Cup, reaching the third round and knocking out professional squads along the way.
But López expects Saturday to be their toughest test yet.
North Carolina’s Hickory FC arrives with energy, unity and belief. Its roster blends college players with recent pros, and its game plan is built on disrupting rhythm. While Farolito brings veteran structure, Hickory plans to inject pace.
“El Farolito is very organized. They like to control the tempo,” said Hickory coach Carlos Rubio, recently named NPSL Coach of the Season. “We want to make the game uncomfortable for them; keep the speed high, push them into a rhythm that doesn’t suit them.”
Rubio praised Farolito’s back-to-back title run and story, but emphasized that Hickory, too, comes in strong: “We’ve also had a great campaign. The mood is high, the guys are happy, and they love each other. That chemistry is hard to build in a short season, but we have it.”
He added that Hickory’s youth may be an edge. “They have the experience. But we have the legs. Physically, we’re ready.”
Fog or not, he welcomes the Kezar climate: “Honestly, we’re thrilled. The weather suits us. It might’ve been harder for them if they’d had to play in North Carolina’s heat and humidity.”
The Farolito style
The Burrito Team has chemistry and a distinctive identity to counteract. Most players have pro experience. What binds them is a shared ethic: Train hard, stay humble, leave everything on the field.
They’ve also built a mental playbook over the years. For López and his players, one name still signals exactly the intensity they need: Portland.
“That game against the Timbers 2 last year in the Open Cup — on the road, under pressure — that’s where it all started,” López said. “That taught us how to press, how to reset, how to counter. We still use it as the blueprint.”
He brought it up again during Thursday night’s final practice at Crocker Amazon. The message landed.
“What we’ve built here isn’t easy,” said Captain Jonathan Mosquera, 37. “This team, this family, all different backgrounds. But it’s paying off.”
Mosquera said the preparation is done. Now, it’s about execution.
“We’ve already done the work all season,” he said. “There’s no changing the script now. What’s left is to play the perfect game: Concentration, commitment and flipping their strengths to our advantage.”
The faith that drives them
Midfielder Herlbert Soto, a 5-foot-3 dynamo from Colombia, is playing his fourth season with Farolito. He juggles soccer with youth coaching, gig work and raising two young kids in the Bay Area.
For him, this final is more than a personal milestone.
“We all carry our dreams,” he said. “And we carry each other. No matter your circumstances, with a ball, everything is possible.”
The repeat is within reach.
“I want to be able to say we left a legacy,” Soto added. “That we did it for the Mission. For the people. Even if one day I’m back in Colombia, I want them to remember that we were champions here, together.”
Kickoff is Saturday, August 2, at 5 p.m. at Kezar Stadium. Admission is free.