OKLAHOMA CITY — Reno 1868 FC scored early but was forced to score again late to extend its unbeaten run to a club-record nine matches with a 2-1 win against OKC Energy FC at Taft Stadium on Saturday night. It took just two minutes for Reno to take the lead, coming off a corner as slow defending allowed captain Zach Carroll to run across his defender and head across the face of goal. OKC looked to come back into the match and went agonizingly close in the 13th minute when Alex Dixon’s header hit the crossbar, but the hosts kept pushing and found an equalizer 11 minutes before halftime when Dixon made up for his earlier miss as a header down from Christian Volesky fell right at his feet allowing Dixon to hit it powerfully into the back of the net. In the second half Reno controlled most of the ball, winning the possession battle, and pressed into the final third, and that pressure would eventually pay off in the 76th minute as Brent Richards squared for Lindo Mfeka, who hit it powerfully to the bottom-left corner. OKC pushed for an equalizer late on but the strong defense of the visitors gave them the victory.

Scoring
2’ – RNO – Zach Carroll (Jerry van Ewijk)
34’ – OKC – Alex Dixon (Christian Volesky)
76 – RNO – Lindo Mfeka (Brent Richards)

• #OKCvRNO: Highlights and Opta Box Score

Three Things That Matter:

• 1. After starting the season with a difficult run, Reno 1868 FC has turned that around in spectacular fashion, now through nine games unbeaten, a club record, that shows no sign of stopping. The side is undefeated on the road, and with two of its next three matches away from home that run could place Reno firmly in the race for the USL Western Conference lead.

• 2. Reno was able to successfully break up the OKC attack with 27 interceptions in the match, which made it tricky for the hosts to get chances. That has been a strength of Reno all season, with the club leading the league with 212 interceptions.

• 3. Energy FC came into this match on a two-game unbeaten run, having scored first in both matches. That second trend vanished just two minutes in and that revealed another worrying trend, Energy FC has not won all season when conceding the opening goal.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:

Lindo Mfeka, Reno 1868 FC – The late goal was a just reward for Mfeka, who was active up front all night for the visitors. The midfielder created five chances and managed three shots on target, finishing with a passing accuracy of 81.6 percent, with an even stronger rate in the OKC half of 82.8 percent.

Upcoming Games:
OKC Energy FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC 2 – June 10, 4.30p.m. ET, Cheney Stadium
Reno 1868 FC vs. Fresno FC — June 9, 10:30p.m. ET, Greater Nevada Field