San Antonio FC will play the second of three straight home games on Wednesday night when they host OKC Energy FC. Hard to believe it, but the match will mark the halfway point of the 2020 season for San Antonio FC. SAFC extended their unbeaten season to 7 games with a 1-1 draw against Austin on Saturday night thanks to a dramatic second half added time goal from Jose Gallegos, his first of the season.
The big story for SAFC this week was that starting Keeper Dayne St Clair had his loan recalled by his parent club, Minnesota United of MLS. The move likely ends his involvement with SAFC. He earned three clean sheets over five starts while with San Antonio.
The move paved the way for the return of San Antonio’s own and fan favorite Matt Cardone who made his first start since March on Saturday night against the Bold. Cardone has 7 saves, 1 clean sheet, and 1 goal allowed in two appearances so far in 2020. Defender Kai Greene also made his first start of 2020 over the weekend.
OKC comes into this match off a 0-0 draw with RGV FC on Saturday. Those two teams are at the bottom of the Group D table and the draw didn’t do much to help either of them. OKC will enter this match 9 points behind SAFC.
The considerable news surrounding OKC Energy coming into this match is the announced presence of Covid-19 in the organization on Monday. That includes Manager John Pascarella who will miss the match as he is self quarantining. However, per a club statement on Monday, tomorrow's match is still on as scheduled.
San Antonio dominated OKC Energy in their first meeting of the season less than two weeks ago by 3-0 scoreline. With the win, San Antonio is unbeaten in nine straight meetings with OKC energy. The last time they lost to OKC was way back on May 21, 2016; in their inaugural season. This game is only the second road match of the season for OKC Energy and their first in over a month.
Jaime Chavez leads OKC Energy with 2 Goals. Four other players have scored one goal for OKC Energy and 5 different players have recorded one Assist. Chavez leads in shots with 13, while Rafael Garcia leads in Chances Created with 11.
CJ Cochran continues to get the nod in Goal for OKC. He has 22 saves in seven appearances, while conceding 11 goals. His clean sheet over the weekend was his first of the season.
Defender Atiba Harris continues to lead the way for the OKC back line with 25 clearances but he’s getting some help from Nicolas Taravel who has recorded 24.
With the Gallegos Goal, that makes 7 goal scorers in 7 games for SAFC; a very nice balanced attack. And despite the loss of St Clair who was having a proficient season, Cardone provides the most steady presence in San Antonio FC history. With second place FC Tulsa arriving Saturday, and at the back end of a very grueling stretch of games, it would behoove SAFC to get three points on Wednesday against a team who wilted against them once already this season.
The Matchup (W-D-L)
OKC Energy FC (1-3-3, 6 points)
at San Antonio FC (4-3-0, 15 points)
Toyota Field, Wednesday August 19th, 2020
Kickoff 8:00pm Central Time
Table Position
Current Form (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC – 2020 Home Record (2-1-0)
W-W-W-D-D
OKC Energy FC – 2020 Road Record (1-0-0)
W-D-L-L-D
All Time History (W-D-L)
Wednesday will mark the 13th all-time meeting between these two clubs. Seven of their eleven league match-ups have ended in a tie. OKC is also the only team to defeat SAFC in the playoffs, knocking them out in the 2017 Western Semifinals in penalty kicks after a full-time draw. All time SAFC is 3-7-2 against OKC Energy with a 3-7-1 record in League Play.
Season Series
8/8/20 @ OKC SA 3-0
8/19/20 @ SA
9/19/20 @ SA
Last Time
San Antonio FC dominated OKC Energy earlier this month at Taft Stadium by a 3-0 score. SAFC had goals from Parano, Montgomery, and Bailone in the victory.
Here are the match highlights:
SAFC Wins If :
…if they can fight through this busy week. It’s a quick turn from Saturday and they’ll have another big one with FC Tulsa just three days later. But they flashed their fighting spirit last weekend, never giving up and earning a point where there was nearly none to be found. If they can stay mentally tough, they should be able to get three more points against an inferior OKC team.
IMAGES: SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER
PHOTOS; DARREN ABATE, INSTAGRAM: @PEAKACTION