USL FC Tulsa

Roughnecks Travel to OKC Saturday for Oklahoma Derby

Published on June 12, 2015 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Tulsa News Release


The Oklahoma Derby makes its first appearance in Oklahoma City Saturday as the Roughnecks travel down the Turner Turnpike to face the Oklahoma City Energy. It will be the first meeting between the state rivals at OKC's Taft Stadium.

The Roustabouts have arranged for Tulsa fans to sit as a group at the match. Tickets in Section 8.

Both teams should enter the match with confidence. The Energy (6-2-3, 21 points) have won four straight games, three by shutout, and vaulted to the top of the Western Conference standings. The victory by Sounders 2 over Los Angeles Galaxy II Thursday night dropped OKC into second place, but they have two games in hand over S2.

The Roughnecks (4-5-2, 14 points) also come into the match on a high. Tulsa produced its biggest win of the season in its last outing, a 5-1 victory in Seattle. It was the first home loss of the year for Sounders 2, while the five goals were a season high for the Roughnecks. They enter the match with OKC with wins in three of their last four matches.

The match will mark the third meeting this season between the Oklahoma clubs. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw on March 28 in the first game of the season as 8,335 fans watched the action at ONEOK Field. The teams also met in a third round U.S. Open Cup match in downtown Tulsa with the Energy producing a late goal for a 1-0 win.

MISSING IN ACTION

Tulsa will be without the services of Gibson Bardsley, Kyle Venter and Mason Grimes. Bardsley and Venter are suffering from muscle strains. Bardsley's injury occurred early in the S2 match, while Venter will be out of action for his second straight match.

Grimes is away on duty with the Guam National Team. In its first match of 2018 World Cup qualifying, Grimes played all 90 minutes of Guam's 1-0 victory over Turkmenistan. It was the first-ever victory in a World Cup qualifier for Guam who plays in the Asian Football Confederation. Grimes is also expected to play in the team's next fixture when Guam hosts India on June 16.

ENERGY ON FORM

Head coach Jimmy Nielsen's side has been one of USL's hottest teams over the past three weeks. Forwards Kyle Greig and Danni Konig have provided most of the team's offense during that time. Greig has four goals in the past five matches while Konig has added three. Goalkeeper Evan Newton's three straight clean sheets has lowered in Goals Against Average to 1.00, fifth best in USL.

TULSA STATS SHEET

Tulsa goalkeeper Zac Lubin continues to lead USL with 48 saves, an average of 4.36 saves per match. Offensively, the Roughnecks are second in the league with 13.55 shots per game, but their 1.27 goals per match average is 13th in USL.

Bardsley leads Tulsa with 13 goals, while Steven Miller, Lucas Cordeiro and Black all have 2 goals each. Cordeiro has 3 assists and leads the team with 7 total points.

Check out the FC Tulsa Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 12, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central