El Paso Locomotive FC came away from Las Vegas with all three points on Independence Day, beating Las Vegas Lights FC 2–1 thanks to goals from Alex Méndez and Álvaro Quezada. Johnny Rodriguez pulled one back for the hosts in first-half stoppage time, but it wasn't enough.

El Paso set the tone early. Méndez opened the scoring in the 20th minute, finishing off a feed from Rubio Rubín to give Locomotive the lead. Las Vegas struggled to find a response for much of the first half, and frustration crept in — Ben Mines picked up a yellow card in the 43rd minute. The Lights did find a lifeline deep into added time before the break, though, when Rodriguez converted from a Themi Antonoglou assist to level things at 1–1 heading into the interval.

Whatever momentum Las Vegas carried into halftime didn't last. Quezada restored El Paso's advantage seven minutes after the restart, tucking away a chance created by Méndez, who added the assist to his earlier goal. It was a clinical one-two punch from Locomotive that left the Lights chasing the game again.

Las Vegas pushed forward in search of another equalizer but couldn't break through. Marc Ybarra was booked in the 69th minute as the hosts grew increasingly desperate, and El Paso's Arturo Ortíz picked up a yellow of his own in the 80th minute as the visitors looked to see out the result. They did exactly that.

The win gives El Paso a valuable three points on the road and continues to strengthen their position in the USL Championship standings as the season pushes past the midway mark.