The 2018 OKC Energy FC season was the club's fifth season of existence, and their fifth consecutive season in the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

, the second tier of American soccer. Energy FC also played in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

. The season covered the period from November 5, 2017, to the beginning of the 2019 USL season. The 2018 season was the first for OKC under new head coach

Steve Cooke Steven Montague Cooke III (born January 14, 1970) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1992–1994 and 1996-1998. He was named as the LHP in the Topps All-Star Rookie Team in 1993. On the final day of the ...

, who had previously been the interim head coach of

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

. Cooke became just the second head coach in club history;

Jimmy Nielsen Jimmy Nielsen (born 6 August 1977) is a Danish-American retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Until June 2007, he played 398 games for Danish team AaB Fodbold. Playing every league match for AaB since 1997, Nielsen won the 1999 Danish ...

had been in charge for the previous four seasons. Energy FC finished tenth place in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for just the second time in club history and the first time since 2014. OKC took points from 16 of their last 21 matches, after losing 10 of their first 13 games, but still finished 10 points outside the final playoff spot. In the U.S. Open Cup, Energy FC was knocked out by amateur club

NTX Rayados The NTX Rayados are a soccer team based in Dallas,Texas that currently competes in North Texas Premier Soccer League. History NTX Rayados plays North Texas Premier Soccer Association, Division 1A since 2011. The team won the NTPSA Division 1A ...

, who play in the

North Texas Premier Soccer Association The North Texas Premier Soccer Association (NTPSA) is a soccer league based in North Texas which is run under the USASA. The league gained some fame once one of their clubs Dallas Roma F.C. reached the fourth round of the 2006 Lamar Hu ...

. It marked the first season in club history in which OKC did not win at least one game in the cup.

Roster

Non-competitive

Preseason

Competitions

USL

Standings

Results summary

Results by round

Match results

In August 2017, the

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

announced that the 2018 season would span 34 games, the longest regular season the league had ever run. The expansion was spurred by the addition of six new clubs for the 2018 season:

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professiona ...

Fresno FC Fresno Football Club was an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. Founded in 2017, the team was a member of the USL Championship, a second-tier league in the American Soccer Pyramid. Their first game took place on March ...

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014, before moving to the United Soccer League in 2018. The franchise plays it ...

, Las Vegas Lights,

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

, and

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

. On January 12, 2018, the league announced home openers for every club. Energy FC opened their home slate with the season's first fixture of the

Black Gold Derby The Black Gold Derby is an American soccer rivalry between the two USL Championship (USLC) clubs based in Oklahoma: OKC Energy FC and FC Tulsa. The winner of the regular season series is awarded a four-foot wrench. History The Oklahoma City Ener ...

against

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

, the second time in four years that Energy FC and Tulsa faced off in the season opener. The teams had previously faced off to open the 2015 season. The schedule for the remainder of the 2018 season was released on January 19. Energy FC played three times against both

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E ...

and Tulsa. They faced every other Western Conference team twice.

U.S. Open Cup

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Transfers

In

Loan in

Out

Awards

USL Team of the Week

USL Save of the Week

Kits

References

{{2018 in American soccer OKC Energy FC seasons

OKC Energy Oklahoma City Energy Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. History Oklahoma City businessman ...