After their first lost in nearly six weeks, Rio Grande Valley FC has a chance for a rapid rebound as they host Oklahoma City Energy FC at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the UT RGV Soccer Complex (Watch live stream above and here.)
The Toros (5-3-4; 19 points) snapped a six-game unbeaten run with a 4-0 defeat at Swope Park Rangers Wednesday night in Kansas City.
“I decided to make some changes for that game as we needed to see some other players,” RGV FC head coach Wilmer Cabrera told HoustonDynamo.com by phone. “Players needed to step up, coming from the Dynamo, and It was important for them to have action. The whole team didn’t have a good game and after 45 minutes we were losing 3-0.”
Like so many games during this inaugural season, tonight is the first-ever meeting between the Toros and OKC Energy FC. The Oklahoma club boasts its own impressive run of late, unbeaten in its last eight games, and sits three points back of the Toros, with 16 points from just nine games (4-1-4).
“What we need to see now is how we respond to a bad game,” Cabrera said. “Do they have the personality and mentality to bounce back? Are we going to regain our personality and mentality and take three points at home?”
So far this season, Cabrera’s team has responded well to defeat. The Toros followed their two previous losses with wins over Portland Timbers 2 (2-0 on April 8) and San Antonio FC (3-2 on May 7).
OKC Energy will have one eye toward Wednesday, with a trip to face FC Dallas in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on tap. An upset of FC Dallas could lead to a fifth-round tie with the Dynamo, if they dispatch San Antonio FC in their own fourth-round matchup on Wednesday at BBVA Compass Stadium.
“I expect a strong team (from OKC) – organized, a team that is scoring a lot of goals, even away from home. They are very physical, with good players. They can score from set pieces and long throw ins – even from 50 yards – and they are a solid team overall in all aspects. We expect a very good game.”
The Toros announced the signing of Stanford product Eric Verso Saturday morning after the attacker trained with RGV FC all week. He could make his RGV FC debut tonight.
“Eric is a very talented player who always wanted to be here,” Cabrera said. “We wanted him to be here, but sadly he had problems with his foot. He was affected with that injury during the past six months and it is tough to have a rhythm with that. Now he is ready and we expect that he will approach the game with a good mentality and maybe we can start his rhythm tonight.”
