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USL Phoenix Rising FC

United Confidence Carrying over into Battle with OKC Energy FC

May 6, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Phoenix Rising FC News Release


Arizona United Soccer Club may have walked away from its April 30 home opener with a slightly disappointing draw. But as the club heads into this weekend's match against OKC Energy FC (Saturday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m.), the players and coaches are encouraged by their play from last week.

"We just watched that game before practice now and I didn't realize how many shots and how many attacks we actually had," said forward Tyler Blackwood. "Apart from their goal which was in 30 seconds they had maybe one other or two other attacks, meaningful attacks. So it gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we absolutely dominated that game. ... I think we just need to know that we're better at keeping the ball and going forward than a lot of teams in this league."

Blackwood also talked about the confidence gained from responding to Portland's early goal. He said that even though they fell behind less than a minute into the match, the players stuck to the coach's game plan, which resulted in outplaying T2 for much of the rest of the game.

"We knew what we had to do, we knew what players we had to attack and it worked and so for this game it's the same," Blackwood said. "We got a specific gameplan and we know who we target and we know which way we want to show certain people so we know what we have to do."

Added assistant coach Marc Bircham: "We worked on finishing in the game and we always work on our back four because you're only as good as your defensive unit. ... And we keep working on our finishing. We're creating chances and that's the main thing. You start to worry when you don't create chances."

Scouting Report: While he hasn't scored a goal yet in 2016, OKC's Danni Konig has still been dangerous early in the year with a team-leading two assists. Last season he scored 21 goals, which would've been a USL record if someone else's hadn't tallied 22. Against Arizona United, Konig scored a brace during a 3-0 Arizona United loss in Oklahoma City. This match also marks the Arizona return of Jordan Rideout and Jose 'Chiva' Cuevas. Rideout was the club's Man of the Match over the weekend after scoring a stoppage time equalizer against Seattle Sounders 2

Previous meetings: Arizona United and OKC Energy have played seven regular season matches with United going 2-3-1. Last season Arizona went 0-2-0. They've also met in the U.S. Open Cup, with United winning that lone battle, 2-1, in 2014.

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