USL Championship – Match 15

Saturday, June 8 – 9:30 p.m. CDT
Chukchansi Park – Fresno, California

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Week 14 Part 1 Recap

Energy FC (7th, 5-4-5, 20 points) drew 1-1 with Western Conference leaders New Mexico United Wednesday night in Albuquerque. Deshorn Brown scored his seventh goal of the campaign off Omar Gordon’s fifth assist to cancel out Devon Sandoval’s opener for the hosts. Although Cody Laurendi didn’t keep a third-straight clean sheet, he did record five saves, several of them crucial interventions that easily could have resulted in goals for New Mexico. His 47 saves are now the most in the USL Championship. With the result, OKC is unbeaten in the last six matches in all competitions.

Week 14 Part 2 Opposition

While Saturday’s opponent isn’t hitting the same heights as New Mexico United, Fresno FC (5th, 5-2-5, 20 points) are a quality opponent as shown by their position in the table; however, they are coming off a disappointing loss. Last Saturday, they fell 1-0 to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Weidner Field.

Qudus Lawal leads the way with four goals and Jackson has tallied five assists – good enough for third-best in the league. The always-dangerous Juan Pablo Caffa is still pulling the strings in midfield and has already created 24 chances this year. The Foxes also have a familiar face in goal in former Green CJ Cochran. Cochran has played every minute for Fresno this season, earning four clean sheets and only conceding 12 times – the sixth-best record in the league.

The sides met twice in 2018 with Fresno winning 2-1 at Chukchansi Park in March and drawing 0-0 at Taft Stadium in July.

Cordell Cato played his last match for Energy FC for the forseeable future Wednesday night, as he will now meet up with the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Cato joins Alvin Jones, Je-Vaughn Watson and Mekeil Williams on the list of players on national team duty for the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Head Coach Steve Cooke made a move this week to bolster the squad with the return of Jonathan Brown. Brown rejoins OKC after a short stint at Hartford Athletic, where he scored one goal in 12 appearances. Brown made 37 appearances for Energy FC from 2017-18, scoring one goal and providing four assists.