San Antonio FC will play their final home match of the 2020 regular season on Saturday night as they host OKC Energy FC. This will be the third and final meeting between the two sides this year as SAFC has overwhelmed them through two games, outscoring them by a combined total of 7-0.
With the two wins, San Antonio is unbeaten in ten straight meetings with OKC energy. The last time they lost to OKC was way back on May 21, 2016; in their inaugural season.
San Antonio FC comes into this match after a big midweek victory over rival Austin Bold FC. Not only was it an emphatic bounce back victory after a loss, the 3-2 result clinched Group D. San Antonio FC are playoff bound for the first time since 2017.
Marcina talked about the road ahead after the win. “Our approach we’ve taken from day one will remain. We will take it one day at a time. Yes, we have won our group, but we aren’t content. That’s one of our goals and we have achieved it, but we have plenty of other goals we want to achieve. So now our focus is on OKC Energy and getting three points again at home in front of our fans.”
Luis Solignac scored in the opening minute for the second straight home match and has now scored in 6 straight games, a team record. Solignac leads SAFC with 8 Goals scored. Crisitian Parano and Jose Gallegos each added a goal and an assist in the win on Wednesday night. For Parano, it was his first goal since August 8th.
SAFC still has plenty to play for in these final three games. Now they will battle for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. San Antonio leads Reno 1868 FC by two points, but Reno still has one game in hand. Keep your eye on Phoenix, too. SAFC leads Phoenix by 4 points, although Phoenix also has one game in hand.
OKC comes into this match after a meeting with FC Tulsa last weekend. This is their third and final match of a three game road trip.
Things are getting marginally better for OKC Energy, as they are unbeaten in their last three games. Still, it’s all relative for a team with only one win in 2020.
There hasn’t been tons of offense for OKC Energy this season but Jaime Chavez leads the team with 3 Goals scored. Five other players have scored one, including former SAFC player Frank Lopez. Zachary Ellis-Hayden leads the team with 2 Assists. Chavez leads in shots with 19, while Rafael Garcia leads in Chances Created with 19.
Former SAFC player Omar Gordon is leaving his mark on the team, scoring this late equalizer against FC Tulsa last week.
CJ Cochran leads in Goal for OKC. He has 34 saves in eleven appearances, while conceding 17 goals. He has two clean sheets.
Defender Nicolas Taravel leads the way for the OKC back line with 54 clearances but he’s getting some help from Atiba Harris who has recorded 32.
San Antonio should have their way in this game as they are the clearly superior team. But Parano provided some nice perspective after the win over Austin. “It’s a tough situation with everything going on in the world. There are so many people that have lost love ones, and there’s so many bigger things happening at this moment. From where we stand, it’s – in a way – a blessing to be able to provide a little bit of happiness to our fans and to the people who couldn’t be here tonight but may have been watching us.”
Here's to a little bit of happiness, San Antonio. Your SAFC are playoff bound once again.
The Matchup (W-D-L)
OKC Energy FC (1-6-5, 9 points)
at San Antonio FC (9-3-1, 30 points)
Toyota Field, Saturday September 19th, 2020
Kickoff 8:00pm Central Time
Table Position
Current Form (W-D-L)
San Antonio FC – 2020 Home Record (6-1-0)
W-W-W-L-W
OKC Energy FC – 2020 Road Record (1-2-2)
L-L-D-D-D
All Time History (W-D-L)
Wednesday will mark the 14th all-time meeting between these two clubs.
SAFC are unbeaten in ten straight games against OKC. Seven of their twelve league matchups 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 4-7-2 against OKC Energy with a 4-7-1 record in League Play.
Season Series
8/8/20 @ OKC SA 3-0
8/19/20 @ SASA 4-0
9/19/20 @ SA
Last Time
San Antonio FC dominated OKC Energy at Toyota Field last month. Four different SAFC players scored in the one-sided victory.
Here are the match highlights:
SAFC Wins If :
…if SAFC can finish out the season series strong. They have dominated OKC this year, outscoring them 7-0 over two games. Last time, also at Toyota Field, they looked completely overmatched. SAFC should win this game going away as they turn their fight for home field advantage.
IMAGES: SAN ANTONIO FC TWITTER
PHOTOS: DARREN ABATE, INSTAGRAM: @PEAKACTION