Last week was brilliant for Energy FC (12th, 8-12-5, 29 points), but it’s all eyes on Rio Grande Valley FC (15th, 3-8-11, 20 points) in matchweek 23, as the Greens head south Saturday. This will be the second meeting between the clubs this season, with OKC winning 3-1 at home on June 16 through goals from Jaime Siaj, Callum Ross and Miguel Gonzalez.

Coming off of two big wins, one a derby and the other against the conference leaders, the Greens will certainly be feeling confident they can hand RGV their second home loss of the season. Energy FC thrashed Tulsa Roughnecks FC last Wednesday, and despite giving up a two-goal lead against Real Monarchs SLC, the Greens showed grit and determination to carry on and find a late winner on Saturday.

One of the main reasons for Saturday’s win was the performance of Jose Barril. The Spaniard recorded assists on all three goals, something that’s never been done before in the history of the club. The record-setting performance also earned him USL Team of the Week honors.

Another reason to feel bullish about Saturday is that the Greens’ busy fixture list is now a lot less so. After having three matches in eight days on three separate swings throughout July and early August, the guys won’t have to play twice in a week until the last week of September/first week of October.

Regardless of playing so many matches in such a short amount of time, OKC got through the congestion relatively unscathed with Matt VanOekel the only long-term injury. With the newly announced signing of Marco Bustos and the return of Juan Pablo Guzman, Head Coach Steve Cooke has never had more attacking options at his disposal – which can be both a good and bad thing. Good for obvious reasons, bad because these guys are professional footballers and they all want to play as much as possible. In addition to the new midfield options, Callum Ross will be back in contention for a starting spot after serving a one-match ban on Saturday for yellow card accumulation.

While not exactly lighting the conference up this year, RGV have been solid at home. In 12 matches, they’ve only lost once at H-E-B Park – 1-0 to Portland Timbers 2 on June 9. In their past three home games, the Toros have managed to take seven points from the opposition. On July 7, Tulsa came to town and left with a point, but Las Vegas Lights FC and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC left with nothing, losing 2-0 and 1-0, respectively.

In their most recent outing last Saturday, RGV took the lead against Sacramento Republic FC in the first minute through Carlos Small only to concede twice in the second half and lose the match.

Pretty much the only thing making RGV even remotely competitive is their stellar defensive record with Conor Donovan and Omar Ontiveros forming the center-back partnership. Through 22 matches, they’ve conceded 24 goals and have kept nine clean sheets in the process with goalkeeper Nicolas Corti recording six. The keeper did not feature against Sacramento, however, as Tyler Deric made his first appearance of the season.

RGV are dead last in the league in goals scored with 19 and shots converted at 9%, but if there is a threat to worry about on the attacking side, it’s Aldo Quintanilla. The midfielder leads the team with four goals and four assists.

Since we’re at the point in the season where we are scoreboard watching, there are some other big matchups this weekend that could potentially affect Energy FC. On Saturday, Fresno FC (11th, 30 pts) host Saint Louis FC (7th, 35 pts) and Vegas (13th, 26 pts) welcomes Phoenix Rising FC (4th, 41 pts). On Sunday, T2 (5th, 39 pts) and Seattle Sounders 2 (16th, 17 pts) square off while the Swope Park Rangers (9th, 33 pts) host Reno 1868 FC (6th, 37 pts).

Saturday’s match against the Toros kicks off at 7:30 p.m. from H-E-B Park and can be streamed on espn+.