TIJUANA -Coach Joaquin del Olmo said it several times. So did some of the Club Tijuana Xoiloitzcuintles players.

"We are calm."

"There's no need to panic."

"We will be fine."

That's how they described the Xolos, the newest team of the Mexican Primera División, promoted from the minor leagues before the start of the Apertura tournament.

Tijuana might want to adopt different phrases after Sunday afternoon's game.

The Xolos played to a 1-1 draw against visiting Querétaro in a Week 7 match-up at a mostly packed Estadio Caliente.

Tijuana allowed a first half goal by José Martínez and failed to capitalize on a handful of second-half chances after Dayro Moreno tied the match in the 39thminute.

The Xolos (1-3-2) remain winless at home and near the bottom of the league standings with five points as they try to adapt to the first division and avoid demotion with 11 games left on their schedule.

Despite the result, Xolos coach Joaquín del Olmo appears to be calm.

"I understand what is going on, I'm not dumb," del Olmo said. "This is a great institution and we are trying to get it to take off. The change in divisions is affecting us to an extent but this is our home field and that should be to our advantage. We need to win."

Tijuana's players know they need points. The Xolos desperately tried to find the winning goal late in the second half, even when referee Jorge Flores added six minutes on injury time.

Del Olmo switched to three attackers from two late in the match, with Joe Corona, Moreno and Raúl Enríquez playing on top. Del Olmo made the change after defender and team captain Javier

Gandolfi was taken off the field in a stretcher after suffering an injury to his left leg late in the match.

The Xolos' attack continued from there.

Xolos midfielder Leandro Augusto couldn't convert a shot from just inside the penalty area. He sent a lazy rolling pass straight into the hands of Querétaro goalkeeper Liborio Sanchez' hands.

Corona sent a blast from left to right but it sailed a foot over the cross bar. Enriquez had a soft shot stopped from near the goal line with seconds left in the match.

Another game in which the Xolos appeared to be the best team, another missed chance for points. Querétaro is one of the league's weaker squads and it's also fighting demotion. The Gallos Blancos, as the team is known, are the No. 12 team in the league with eight points.

"We know about relegation," Querétaro coach José Cardozo said. "I don't talk about relegation. I talk about what we do daily. The players know what we need to know."

Right now, Tijuana wants to forget they are the No. 16 team in the league standings out of 18 teams. Atlas and Morelia sit behind the Xolos, which have played six games when most teams have completed seven.

The Xolos also want to forget Querétaro's goal Sunday.

Martínez scored a goal for the Gallos Blancos 34 minutes into the match. He sent a rolling pass from Carlos Bueno past Xolos goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo. Martínez was left wide open near the top of the Xolos' penalty box.

Querétaro led 1-0 despite the Xolos maintaining possession for most of the first half. That has been the story for the Xolos for most of the tournament. Possess and score early, only to lose the lead in the second half.

Querétaro's lead didn't last long.

Tijuana tied the match five minutes after Martínez's score.

Moreno, the Xolos' striker, sent a right-footed shot from about 30-yards out; it bounced off the hands of Sánchez and into the back of the net.

Moreno has scored in all of his five matches with the Xolos since signing a three-year contract in June, making him the leading scorer in the league to this point.

It doesn't get any easier for Tijuana's team.

The Xolos next host Chivas de Guadalajara, one of Mexico's most popular teams and one of the top teams in the league, at home on Sept. 4.

Egidio Arevalo, from Xolos, during Sunday's game. Photo: Club Tijuana

ivan.orozco@sandiegored.com