USL Feature

Thursday, September 17, 2015

After seeing points slip away on Saturday night against Colorado Springs, OKC Energy FC’s players went to Arizona with one intention.

“We came for these three points,” Energy FC midfielder Chuy Sanchez said on Wednesday night. “We had nothing else in mind.”

Thanks to Daniel Gonzalez’s goal from Sanchez’s 41st-minute corner kick, Energy FC got the victory it was looking for, and moved at least for the time being back to the top of the USL Western Conference standings.

OKC will now wait and see if it has done enough to earn a bye to the conference semifinals, with Colorado Springs, Sacramento and Orange County all in action over the next week as the top four positions in the conference are determined.

In what proved an entertaining contest against an Arizona side that played well throughout, Gonzalez’s goal was the difference. After OKC won a corner on the right side, Sanchez’s near-post cross was powered home into the far corner by Gonzalez for his first professional goal. Roommates on the road, Sanchez said he would have some fun with Gonzalez after providing the service for the finish.

“I know he had a goal that was called off earlier, so I’m still going to claim that I got him his first goal of the season,” Sanchez said. “It was a good ball, a good header by him. It was just one of those that all these teams are good, sometimes you need a set piece to take it apart.”

OKC Coach Jimmy Nielsen was pleased by the overall performance his side produced, and particularly that of goalkeeper Evan Newton, who stood tall with an eight-save shutout to make Gonzalez’s goal stand as the winner.

“It was a rock-solid performance, good communication, he stayed calm in the stress situations, was good with his feet, bravo,” Nielsen said. “I think it was a tremendous performance by the guys. They defended with a big, big heart. Both sides of the ball were exceptionally good today, and I’m proud of the guys that did the job today.”

While a bye to the conference semifinals wasn’t guaranteed with OKC’s victory, the LA Galaxy II’s defeat to Portland meant OKC will host its first playoff game at Taft Stadium in its next contest. With a club-record crowd on hand for the side’s game against the Switchbacks on Saturday, the players and coaches are eager for the club’s first trip to the postseason.

“We’re going to celebrate tonight’s victory, and then as soon as we get back we’re going to start [re-generation], get back to practice and get ready for that playoff game,” Sanchez said.

“We’ve got to stay sharp, we’ve got to stay hungry,” Nielsen added. “Now the fun starts.”