No match in Las Vegas Lights FC’s inaugural USL season left a worse taste in the team’s mouth than a 1-1 draw at home back on May 5 with Tulsa Roughnecks FC.
“It felt like a loss – From all of the games, that’s the one that hit us the most,” midfielder Carlos Alvarez recalled. “Now, we just look at it as another opportunity to go out and get three big points.”
In the first meeting, Lights FC scored early in the match, and with a relentless offensive attack in the first half, created several more prime scoring opportunities. But it never converted another chance, gave up an equalizer late in the first half and ultimately felt as though it lost two points on the Western Conference table as opposed to gaining the one it did via the draw.
A chance to make up for that result comes Saturday night, as Lights FC (4-6-4, 16 points) looks to get back on track early in a stretch on the schedule in which it plays eight of 10 matches on the road. At 5:30 p.m. PT, Lights FC will kick off against Tulsa Roughnecks FC (1-8-7, 10 points). The match will air locally on myLVTV and stream nationwide on ESPN+.
“The big thing we want to fix in this meeting is that we have the opportunity to get on them in the very beginning,” Lights FC Head Coach Isidro Sánchez said. “We had a lot of opportunities in the first 25 minutes of the first meeting, but scored just one. Obviously, now, the whole team, we’re in a different moment.”
A big difference entering this second meeting for Lights FC is that the club’s offensive attack has seemed to have found a consistent groove during the month of June. So far, the club has tallied 10 goals in four matches in June – its highest-scoring month so far in 2018.
Meanwhile, along with the motivation that comes with wanting to avenge the May 5 result, Lights FC’s focus on the match should be sharp given Tulsa’s recent, sudden upward trend.
On Monday, following a winless start to the season through 15 matches, Tulsa made a coaching change, appointing Michael Nsien as the club’s new Head Coach. In turn, the team responded on Wednesday night by registering its first 3-point result of the season – a 2-0 victory over LA Galaxy II.
“The first thing that changes with a team with a new coach is that everyone starts from zero – All of the players, they have the same opportunity, so it’s a big motivation for them,” Sánchez said. “More specifically with this team, they built more from the back (on Wednesday). Second, it’s just a detail, but it’s how Joaquin Rivas changed position. With the previous coach, he played along the sideline, mostly on the right side. With this coach, he’s more based in the center.”
It was Rivas who scored the aforementioned equalizer in the first meeting between the two clubs at Cashman Field, and he will be the focal point for the Lights FC defense yet again, as the Las Vegas High School and UNLV alum leads Tulsa in scoring this season with six goals.
“We have to make sure we do the right things defensively, and then just create as much as possible,” Alvarez added. “We had a lot of chances and we didn’t put them away (the first time). The main thing is making sure we put away our chances this time, and we have to stay hungry.”
Following Saturday’s match, Lights FC will return home next Saturday for its lone home match of July, when it hosts Saint Louis FC at 8 p.m. at Cashman Field. The match will take place on Salute To Service Night in Downtown Las Vegas, with tickets currently available and starting at just $15 at LightsFC.com.
LIGHTS FC NOTES HEADING INTO SATURDAY:
LAST TIME OUT: In defeat, Lights FC made a bit of a wave nationally last Sunday. In the final moments of a 3-2 loss in Kansas City against Swope Park Rangers, Carlos Alvarez and Sammy Ochoa tried some trickery on a penalty kick attempt in stoppage time, which if converted would have earned the team a point on the road.
Alvarez slid the ball from its spot to his right, briefly fooling Swope Park keeper Christian Herrera, but Ochoa’s thunderous follow-up strike hit the post just moments after he scored late in the match to start the furious late rally. The team’s coaching staff has had the play in its back pocket all season long, and Alvarez and Ochoa decided to give it a try in a pressure situation – an idea which the coaching staff lauded.
All in all, despite not earning points in the standings, the club showed well against a Swope Park squad that started five players from its MLS side (Sporting Kansas City).
“I took responsibility, and unfortunately it didn’t go as planned,” Alvarez said of the penalty shot attempt. “We left the field with our heads held high. We’ve been right back, working really hard this week. Now the goal is just to get the three points this Saturday.”
OCHOA REMAINS HOT: Had that last-second penalty attempt found the back of the net, it would have gone down as the fifth goal of June for Sammy Ochoa, who is enjoying an early summer breakout in the front of the attack for Lights FC. As it stands, he’s scored four goals, including a late score at Swope Park, plus two the week before in a 4-1 victory over Seattle Sounders 2 at Cashman Field on Saturday, June 16. Ochoa is currently one of two Lights FC players to start all 14 of the team’s matches this season, and the only one to play all 1,260 minutes of match time in 2018.
ROSTER MOVE: On Friday, the club and defender Zak Drake mutually parted ways. Drake logged 295 minutes over six appearances (three starts) for Lights FC in 2018. The move leaves Lights FC’s current roster at 27 players.
INJURY UPDATES: Forward Juan Carlos Garcia and midfielder Matt Thomas will miss Saturday’s match, as they both continue to recover from lower body injuries. All currently questionable for Saturday night while dealing with lower body injuries are defenders Miguel Garduño and Nico Samayoa, plus midfielder Juan Jose Calderon.
DISCIPLINE UPDATES: Lights FC enters Saturday with two players with four yellow cards this season, placing them one yellow card away from an automatic 1-match accumulation suspension – defenders Marco Cesar Jaime Jr. and Miguel Garduño. Previously on that list was Carlos Alvarez, but he saw his total lowered from four yellow cards to three this week, due to a Good Behavior incentive from the league.
WHO TO KNOW FOR LIGHTS FC
Forward Sammy Ochoa (#9) has surged offensively following a start to the season filled with several near-misses on goal. Ochoa is responsible for four of the 10 goals Lights FC has combined to score in June, and should see plenty more opportunities Saturday night in Tulsa, where he scored 20 goals in 54 appearances in 2015 & 2016.
Midfielder Carlos Alvarez (#7) continues to do it all in the middle of the field, leading the offensive attack for Lights FC. With four goals and three assists to his credit in USL play, he’s been the team’s top creator and finisher to this point in 2018. Alvarez wore the captain’s armband for the first time as a member of Lights FC last Sunday in the loss at Swope Park Rangers.
Defender Marcelo Alatorre (#16) continues to be a tone-setting presence along the back line for Lights FC, with the LigaMX veteran bringing experience and toughness to the perimeter of the defense for the club.
Midfielder Zach Mathers (#32) has made a big early impact in just four matches for the club as a mid-season signee. The former MLS SuperDraft pick of Seattle Sounders FC recorded an assist as a second half sub in his first Lights FC appearance on June 2, then scored the club’s fourth and final goal on June 16 in the 4-1 victory over Seattle Sounders 2 – his former club.
WHERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN
– Saturday’s match will air locally on myLVTV, and is also streaming nationwide on the ESPN+ app.
– The Spanish-language radio broadcast takes place on ESPN Deportes 1460 AM, and can be streamed live at LVSportsNetwork.com.
