By Datti Jinkiri
The second round of the US Open Cup will get kicked off on Wednesday night with a highly anticipated matchup. The Oklahoma City Energy of the USL will travel to Clinton’s Traceway Park to face Mississippi Brilla FC.
The Energy have yet to play a cup match, due to them receiving a bye into the second round. However, they have been deeply entrenched in their USL season. The Energy have gone unbeaten in their last five matches, having drawn four times and won once. This is all after a season opening loss against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
A player to watch for the Energy is Danni Konig, who with two goals is the team’s top scorer. The Danish striker was an USL MVP finalist last season. Another player to keep an eye on is midfielder Coy Craft. The 18 year old FC Dallas loanee has already scored once and assisted on another this season.
Brilla picked up an Open Cup win over CD Motagua of New Orleans and a PDL win over Peachtree City MOBA last week, giving the club an unbeaten start to 2016. Midfielder Eduardo Cruz and winger Ignacio Flores found the net in the 2-0 first round win over Motagua. Cruz and striker Lucas Cordeiro made the scoresheet in the 2-1 comeback win over Peachtree City.
Cruz is the team’s top scorer with two goals, and he will be a player to watch. Another player to watch is defender Jake McCain, who put in a man of the match performance in the last match.
Kickoff for the match will be 7:00 on Wednesday night. It will be streamed on US Soccer’s YouTube channel. When the link for the match is available, it will be posted on the schedule.