Week 6 Recap

Energy FC (13th, 7 points) ended the match last Saturday on the wrong side of a 2-1 outcome. While Rio Grande Valley FC Toros were very much up for the match, the Greens can’t help but wonder how it might have turned out had there not been a careless giveaway that led to the opening goal or the missed penalty that would have leveled the score. However, the season is still very young, so all eyes are looking ahead to Saturday’s home match.

As Cody Laurendi said in this week's Pre-Match Report, "Nobody is going to feel sorry for themselves. It's not in the DNA of this team. We take the positives and we take the negatives all as one, and we keep moving forward."

Week 7 Opposition

The Greens welcome old foe Orange County SC (8th, 8 points) to Taft Stadium and look to get back to winning ways in 2019 and rectify the record against OC. In 11 meetings all-time, OKC has won six, lost four and drawn one. Two of those losses came last season, as Orange County won 1-0 at Taft Stadium in March and 3-2 at Championship Soccer Stadium.

It’s hard to tell if this Orange County team will reach the heights of the 2018 squad that won the regular season Western Conference title and made it all the way to the Western Conference Final, but at the very least, they’ve returned a quality squad. After a slow start against some good competition, OC has bounced back to win their last two matches. They will also arrive in OKC well rested after not playing since April 10.

Darwin Jones leads the way with four goals on the season, and the team overall sits tied for third in goals scored with 13. Defensively, they’ve allowed the eighth-most goals in the league (11) but have kept clean sheets in their last two outings.

Just this week, OC added some major firepower to the attack with the loan acquisition of Frankie Amaya from FC Cincinnati. Amaya, the 1st overall selection in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, was part of the United States U-20 national team that won the 2018 U-20 Concacaf Championship.

Energy FC Updates

No new news to report on the injury front. Nicolas Taravel’s rehab from knee surgery is going well and Deshorn Brown is close to regaining full fitness. With everyone else fully fit, it’s possible that we’ll see Head Coach Steve Cooke select the same starting XI in consecutive matches for the first time this season.

To get back in the win column, the main area that will need to improve is the defense. The Greens have conceded 14 times this season and have yet to keep a clean sheet. Obviously, a lot of tinkering has been done due to injuries, international call-ups and as Coach Cooke tries to find his best unit. With a consistent back four and goalkeeper, expect things to change. With the arrival of Alvin Jones, that consistency might begin Saturday. Despite the one costly mistake, Jones performed terrifically at right back in his debut against RGV and hardly put a foot wrong all night.

Saturday’s match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. CDT at Taft Stadium, and tickets are available by calling 235-KICK or at energyfc.com/april20.