The Orange Blocks: A Win At Last!

RGVFC were in the last place of the Western Conference standings before hosting Oklahoma City Energy FC on Saturday night at H-E-B Park. In the middle match of the three-match homestand, RGV looked to utilize their home-pitch advantage. The game started out dull for the home side in the first 20 minutes as the Energy had the first few chances. Then, the Toros reacted with a shot by Michael Salazar and a Hector Copete effort that went wide of the mark. Gerson Echeverry’s side gained a bit more possession as well as the opportunity to score but nothing came of it before the whistle for halftime. Scoreless at the break, both sides looked to get more offense going in the second half.

In the second half, the Toros brought more pressure to get the match’s first goal. In the 54th minute of the match, Salazar pounced on a lazy OKC pass to put it past Cody Laurendi to make 1-0. Aided by the crowd, the Toros pushed for a second goal and came close on a couple of occasions. In the 70th minute, OKC’s Alexy Bosetti earned a penalty, but the attempt was unsuccessful. That was a big opportunity for the visitors to get the game level at one. With three minutes left, Toros scored the second goal of the match, courtesy of a Jesus Enriquez shot.

However, there was some late drama that came to the match. With a pair of minutes gone in injury time, OKC made the most of a set piece chance. The goal by MLS veteran Abita Harris made it 2-1 final score. The win for the Toros was their first of the season and they now sit in 17th place.