Tulsa Athletic vs. Little Rock Rangers
TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Athletic tallied two second-half goals to down Little Rock Rangers, the 2018 Heartland Conference champion, 3-1, on Sunday (May 5) afternoon at Veterans Park in the NPSL season opener for both clubs.
With the score tied at 1-1 early in the second half, Tulsa Athletic (1-0-0 overall) used a quick counter attack to tally the go-ahead goal by Aboubakr Diallo in the 62nd minute. Santiago Riveros played a perfect ball to Diallo who took two touches before calmly knocking in the game-winning goal.
Tulsa Athletic added an insurance goal in the 86th minute when Alex Harris scored to increase the advantage to 3-1. A pass from Aaron Ugbah setup the tally for Harris, his first goal in the green and yellow.
At the start of the contest, it didn’t take long for Tulsa Athletic to get on the scoreboard in the season opener as Joe Ruiz slotted home a corner kick with his left foot in the third minute for a 1-0 edge to Tulsa Athletic.
Little Rock evened the match at 1-1 early in the second half when Trevor Reed scored after a misplay by Tulsa Athletic in the back.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak to Little Rock as Tulsa Athletic moved to 6-2-1 all-time against the Rangers. Tulsa Athletic is a perfect 5-0 all-time against Little Rock in Tulsa. Sunday’s contest was the third straight match against Little Rock for Tulsa Athletic as they ended the 2018 season playing at Little Rock twice, including in the Heartland Conference playoffs.
Riveros was named the Man of the Match for Tulsa Athletic as he finished with two assists, and Javo Reyes was selected as the Tuffbox Defender of the Match.
Tulsa Athletic continue a three-game home stretch with FC Wichita on Saturday (May 11) at 2 p.m. at Veterans Park in Tulsa. Saturday’s match against FC Wichita is presented by City of Tulsa Recycling. Tickets start at $5 for the home contest. Live video streaming will be available.
2019 NPSL Season
Heartland Conference
Tulsa 3 : 1 Little Rock
Sunday, May 5
Tulsa, Okla. – Veterans Park
Scoring
TUL: Joe Ruiz (Santiago Riveros) 3’
LR: Trevor Reed 49’
TUL: Adoudakr Diallo (Santiago Riveros) 62’
TUL: Alex Harris (Aaron Ugbah) 86’
Discipline
LR: Carlos Beltran 2’
TUL: Elvis Barclay 26’
TUL: Scott Adams 90’
Lineups:
Tulsa
Bryson Reed, Thomas Shannon (Adam Habib, 74’), Gustavo Vargas, Elvis Barclay, Javo Reyes, Jamie Gilbert (Ryan Alpers, 59’), Joe Garcia, Joe Ruiz, Aboubakr Diallo (Aaron Ugbah, 67’), Billy Nzojyibwami (Alex Harris, 80’), Santiago Riveros (Scott Harris, 90’)
Little Rock
Walid Birrou, Nick Doyle (Ademiju Oshikoya, 72’), Carlos Beltran, Ben Watson (John Selig, 61’), Ryan Blair, Daishi Uekuri (Julio Martins, 83’), Hayden Tucker, Ulises Caba Cordova (Lance Crabtree, 31’), Trevor Reed, Sabelo Hlongwane, Alex Guadron (Blain Hickman, 66’)
