Luna carried high expectations when he signed for USL Championship side El Paso as a 17-year-old in April 2021, with his outstanding performances leading to a transfer to RSL in June 2022.
But Mastroeni hinted at difficulties for the 19-year-old in his first adjustment to MLS, while pointing to Luna’s “resilience” as a big part of helping him discover his current form.
“I think the difficulties that Luna went through, and then with a good U-20, put him in a position to dig a little bit deeper,” Mastroeni said.
Perhaps one instance of digging deeper — or, in Mastroeni’s terms, “the development of Diego Luna” — was key to preserving the team’s 2-2 draw Wednesday against Sporting Kansas City.
“He gets to play over and he makes a tackle inside the six-yard box,” Mastroeni said. “We can talk about the whole attacking aspect, he’s a very talented attacker, but when you put in that kind of work, you become part of the team now.”