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Pitter, Energy FC Break Streak in Spectacular Fashion

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 08/21/16, 10:18AM EDT

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FC Dallas loanee’s goal sent OKC on way in Black Gold Derby victory

TULSA, Okla. – Scoreless in its previous four games, it seemed as though it would take something special to lift OKC Energy FC out of its recent struggles in front of net.

What it got was a rarity; a right-footed goal from the left-footed Timo Pitter.

“I think Kalen [Ryden] played me the ball, it came to my right foot, and I thought I’d just take the chance and it worked out,” Pitter said. “Especially with the right foot, that doesn’t happen too often.”

The early strike eased the tension of a scoreless streak that had stretched for more than 370 minutes, and set Energy FC on its way to a 2-0 victory in the Black Gold Derby against Tulsa Roughnecks FC at ONEOK Field on Saturday night.

“Rock-solid performance by the guys, I think it’s a well-deserved three points,” said Energy FC Coach Jimmy Nielsen. “We played with good concentration, we didn’t give up any chances, created some decent chances ourselves, got two very important goals, a good strike by Timo and a great finish by [Danni] König, so again, a well-deserved victory.”

Pitter’s goal came in just the seventh minute as Ryden laid the ball back to the FC Dallas loanee 25 yards from goal after a half-cleared cross in the Roughnecks penalty area. The rookie met the ball first-time, and rifled his shot into the right corner of the net to give Tulsa goalkeeper Alex Mangels little chance.

With the lead in hand, Energy FC went on to control much of the game. The visitors thought they had doubled the lead in the 62nd minute, only for Wojciech Wojcik’s finish to be ruled out for offside on Coady Andrews, but two minutes later the second goal arrived as Pitter’s curled cross from the right side of the penalty area found König at the back post for a headed finish.

“Big boost for him to get the goal,” said Nielsen. “It’s a big boost for the team. It’s important for the team that you have your striker scoring goals as well, and I’m very happy on his behalf that he got the goal.”

The night again proved a frustrating one for the Roughnecks, who succumbed to their in-state rival for a third time this season. The side finished with only one shot on goal for the night, as Energy FC goalkeeper Cody Laurendi set a new club record with his 11th shutout of the season.

“It’s not the first time, it’s been going on the whole season,” said Roughnecks captain Sammy Ochoa. “I don’t know what’s going on – we work hard at practice, we do the right things at practice, and come game time, we don’t execute, we make dumb mistakes. It’s the same story again. We have just got to keep working at it, and hopefully we stop making mistakes and finish the season off strong.”

With the side back into contention for top spot in the Western Conference ahead of Wednesday night’s USL Game of the Week on ESPN3 against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, though, Energy FC is hoping the confidence gained from the victory will help sweep the team forward.

“It’s nice with a win, especially when it’s a derby against Tulsa,” said König. “We got what we came for and we can have a good drive back to Oklahoma City.”

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