Jeff Wendt

The Republic | azcentral.com

With five matches remaining%2C Arizona United sits 6 points behind Orange County for 8th playoff spot.

Oklahoma City leads the season series 1-0-1.

Arizona United returns home to face Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday.

After a dismal showing Saturday night in Los Angeles against Galaxy II, Arizona United faces must-win situation Thursday when it faces Oklahoma City Energy FC in Oklahoma City.

Arizona United sits six points out of the eighth playoff spot with five matches remaining, and with losses in its two matches this week against Oklahoma City or at home against Pittsburgh on Saturday, could be eliminated from the playoff race. A win in either match keeps Arizona United alive in the playoff race.

Arizona United coach Michael Dellorusso refused to talk to the media this week in preparation for the two matches, preferring the players to speak out this week.

Arizona United opened its match with Galaxy II poorly, giving up two quick goals in the ninth and 10th minutes, putting Arizona United back on its heels. A free kick goal from Andre Auras put Arizona United down 3-0 at the half. Goals from midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo and forward Long Tan came in the second half, but was unable to get an equalizer in the final 10 minutes.

Midfielder and captain Matt Kassel knew it was a struggle after those first 15 minutes.

"It's never easy conceding the first two goals in the first 15 minutes," Kassel said. "It just comes down to again these mental lapses that we keep making and dig ourselves a hole.

"Once we got to halftime we responded really well. We realize that we're good enough and capable enough of playing with these guys and I think we turned the tables a little bit and put the pressure on them."

Arizona United has faced Oklahoma City three times this year, twice in league play and once in the U.S. Open Cup. Oklahoma City has had the edge in league play, beating Arizona United 4-0 in the season opener, and drawing 1-1 on a soggy Pribil Stadium field July 17. Arizona United got the upper hand on Oklahoma City in the Open Cup match on May 28, winning 2-1 in added extra time, when a goal from Bradlee Baladez in the 112th minute, followed by an Evan Newton penalty kick save in the 119th minute preserved the victory.

Oklahoma City (8-9-5) sits in seventh in the league standings, and is led by forward Kyle Greig, who has eight goals on the season, and midfielder Michael Thomas with five goals. Greig scored in both the opening match and the Open Cup match, and Thomas scored the equalizer in the 1-1 draw.

"Every time we've played them, we're pretty equal sides," Kassel said. "We battle. The last game with the weather and the field it was a little tougher, but its going to be the same (Thursday). The weather might be little bit different but that's not really going to change much.

"They're a team that like to press and push forward and attack with numbers to try and break us down. We look to get a couple balls in the back of the net and again at the end of the day its about playing our game and making the other team break us down, its not too much about what we're going to do with them."

The talk of needing five wins has not escaped the locker room, Kassel said.

"We talked about that as a team," Kassel said. "We know that we can't control what other teams are doing, We know at the end of the day that it might come down to a few results going our way, and we understand its going to be tough, but what we can do is just really do what we do best and winning these last five games that we have, and finish on a positive note."