Just win. That’s what Energy FC (10th, 11-14-5, 38 pts) must do from here on out, and it starts with the final home match of the season this Sunday. Sacramento Republic FC (4th, 15-7-7, 52 pts) come to town on the back of a three-game winning streak after beating Tulsa Roughnecks FC 4-1 on Wednesday night.

Sunday’s match will be the sixth time the sides have met in Oklahoma City, with Energy FC holding an impressive 4-1-0 record at home. This will be the second time they play each other this season after battling to a 1-1 draw at Papa Murphy’s Park on July 21. Christian Volesky’s 81st-minute strike cancelled out Cameron Iwasa’s early goal to earn the Greens a point on the road.

Shutting down Iwasa will, of course, be key Sunday. The striker leads the team in goals by some distance with 14. That’s also good enough for sixth-best in the league. He’s also second in assists for the Republic with five. Forward Villyan Bijev is always a threat as well with four goals and five assists on the year. Goalkeeper Josh Cohen has played every minute for Sacramento this season, keeping nine clean sheets in the process and making 99 saves – good enough for second in the league. While the Republic don’t necessarily light it up on the attacking end, having only scored 36 goals this season (five less than OKC), they’ve allowed the second-fewest goals in the league (30).

If anyone can find a way through that backline, it’s Energy FC. The Greens are in fine form, having won five of the last seven matches, including a come-from-behind victory against LA Galaxy II last week. Quality goals from Jose Barril, Philip Rasmussen and Alex Dixon picked up a vital three points and proved that the high-flying attack is still very much so.

With only a handful of games remaining for each team, the playoff picture now looks like this:

7th – Saint Louis FC – 46 points, 4 games remaining

8th – Reno 1868 FC – 45 points, 6 games remaining

9th – San Antonio FC – 43 points, 4 games remaining

10th – Energy FC – 38 points, 4 games remaining

Despite Reno having two games in hand, they still have to go and get results, staring with a big derby match against Las Vegas Lights FC on Saturday. Nothing is a given in this league, and with the pressure to win and stay ahead, anything is possible, especially given the difficulty of the remaining fixtures.

Either way, Energy FC’s fate is not entirely in their hands, and all that can be done is to win every upcoming fixture. Cody Laurendi said it best when speaking to Energy FC TV this week: “We know what’s at stake. We have to take care of business. Obviously, it’s easy to look at other results and say ‘this didn’t go our way’ or ‘ that did go our way’, but at the end of the day, all that matters is what happens in our locker room and on our field.”

Sunday’s match kicks off at 6:00 p.m. from Taft Stadium, and as always, you can find tickets here or by calling 405-235-KICK (5425).