2019 USL Soccer opening-day schedule released.

TAMPA, FL – The state’s two pro-soccer teams learned the names of their first two opponents on Friday with the release of the United Soccer League’s (USL) opening day schedules.

Oklahoma City will travel to El Paso on Saturday, March 9th to meet Locomotive FC in the Texas club’s first ever USL game.

The Energy then welcome Las Vegas Lights to Taft Stadium on the following Saturday for their own home opener.

Tulsa begin the new season with the visit of Portland Timbers 2 to OneOK Field on March 9th. The Roughnecks then head west to tackle California’s Orange County SC on March 16th.

The league will feature 36 teams across two conferences in the upcoming season, each team facing a 34-game regular-season schedule played over 33 weeks commencing with March’s opening weekend.

This year the league features four expansion franchises – New Mexico (Albuquerque), Memphis and Birmingham all joining El Paso in the Championship, the USL’s top conference.

To accommodate the addition of New Mexico and El Paso to the Western Conference, beginning this year Swope Park (Kansas) and St. Louis (Missouri) have moved to the East.

The USL Championship has a national media partnership with ESPN, wherein all league matches are broadcast on ESPN+, ESPN3 and across linear channels.

The Energy ended last season just outside the playoff places, a 12-15-7 record enough to earn them 10th place. The Roughnecks endured a difficult year finishing 17th in league standings with a 3-19-12 record.

The rest of the season’s schedules will be released in due course.