USL Championship – Match 12
Energy FC  v Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Saturday, May 25 – 7:30 p.m. CDT
Taft Stadium – Oklahoma City

Where to Watch
Live and in person (the best way)
ESPN+
@EnergyFC on Twitter

Week 11 Recap

Energy FC (9th, 4-4-3, 15 points) are back at Taft Stadium for the second of three straight home matches in league play after drawing 1-1 with Real Monarchs SLC last Saturday. The Greens looked set to pick up all three points after Cordell Cato’s 71st minute strike, but Tate Schmitt salvaged a point for the visitors with just about the last kick of the game.

Week 12 Opposition

OKC will expect all three points this week, as struggling Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (17th, 2-7-2, 8 points) come to town. Despite it still being early in the season, Colorado Springs hasn’t shown much promise, losing their last four matches by a combined score of 10-2. Their last point came at Portland Timbers 2 on April 20 in a 2-2 draw, and the last time they recorded a win was March 23 at home to San Antonio FC.

Last year, the teams split the three-match series, with Energy FC winning 1-0 at home on May 19 thanks to a streak-ending goal from Callum Ross, a 1-1 draw at Taft on July 7 and a 2-0 win for Switchbacks FC at Weidner Field on August 4.

If there’s someone to watch out for Saturday, it’s the man who scored twice against OKC in 2018, Shane Malcolm. Malcolm, who has three goals on the season, is tied for the team lead with fullback Jordan Burt.

Saturday should be a good opportunity for Energy FC to earn a second clean sheet of the season, as Colorado Springs has only scored 10 goals this season. For those keeping track or with access to the internet, that’s second-worst in the Western Conference behind the Tacoma Defiance and tied for third-worst in all of the USL Championship. The lack of goals isn’t for want of trying, however. They’ve attempted 163 shots – the sixth most in the league, but they are tied with Hartford Athletic and just ahead of last place Tacoma in converting those chances.

Things aren’t great at the other end of the pitch for Colorado Springs, either. Switchbacks FC have conceded 20 times in 2019 – tied for sixth-most in the league. This bodes well for a potent Energy FC attack that’s scored in every match this season and has the fourth-best conversion rate in the league with 18 goals on only 113 shots.

Still, the rivalry between OKC and COS goes back several years, and with the all-time record only slightly favoring the Greens (5-4-3), Head Coach Steve Cooke knows the Switchbacks won’t make it easy Saturday night.

“As always, they’re a very tough team to play against, very tough to beat, and they have some experienced players who have been in the league a long time. They’re going to give us a real hard game, so we have to be mentally prepared and play with quality again.”

Midfielder Rafael Garcia echoed his coach’s thoughts.

“Any team in this league can beat anyone. We take every game seriously and treat every team with respect. For us, it’s all about what we are doing and what we’re trying to accomplish which is to get three points this weekend.”

Energy FC Updates

The big news with Energy FC this week is that five players have been selected for 40-man provisional squads ahead of the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup: Cordell Cato (Trinidad and Tobago), Alvin Jones (Trinidad and Tobago), Mekeil Williams (Trinidad and Tobago), Omar Gordon (Jamaica) and Je-Vaughn Watson (Jamaica). We’ll have to wait and see who makes the final rosters for the competition, but several key players could be missing as early as the match away to New Mexico United on June 5.

Rafa Garcia is on four yellow cards for the season, which means that he will be suspended for one match if he picks up another booking.

The club and Drew Beckie agreed to mutually terminate the player’s contract this week, with the defender then signing with El Paso Locomotive FC.

After Saturday’s fixture, focus will shift to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup third round match against the Tampa Bay Rowdies Tuesday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. at John Crain Field in Norman, Okla. Admission for that one is free with the purchase of a ticket to the June 1 match against the Los Angeles Galaxy II.