LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Tulsa Athletic opened the 2021 campaign with a 3-3 draw at Arkansas Wolves on Saturday (May 1) at Scott Field.
After falling behind early 1-0, the green and yellow tied the score at 1-1 and twice had the lead at 2-1 and 3-2 before a late equalizer by the Wolves ended the game at 3-3 in the NPSL Heartland Conference opener for both clubs.
With the result and a 1-1 tie in the other Heartland Conference matchup between OKC 1889 and Reign FK, the four clubs sit at one point each after the opening weekend of the NPSL season. Heartland Conference members Dallas City FC and Demize NPSL were off during the first weekend of the season.
Arkansas Wolves tallied the first goal of the game when Oscar Herrara scored his first of two goals in the 21st minute of the first half for a 1-0 advantage to the home side.
Tulsa Athletic evened the score two minutes later in the 23rd minute. Aboubakr Diallo opened his account for the 2021 season to make it 1-1 midway through the first half.
Diallo helped put Tulsa Athletic up 2-1 as he set up Alex Harris with a perfectly placed ball and Harris registered the second goal of the game for the green and yellow in the 43rd minute of action.
The home team responded with another goal from Herrara right before halftime for a 2-2 score after 45 minutes.
In the second half, Tulsa Athletic seemed to take control of the contest, going up 3-2 on a Joe Garcia goal in the 53rd minute. After a quick corner kick, Garcia knocked in a rebound in front of the goal for the Tulsa Athletic advantage.
The equalizer for the Wolves came in the final minutes of action. Matheus Ribeiro scored the goal for Arkansas in the 87th minute to make it 3-3.
With the draw, Tulsa Athletic continued its unbeaten streak in Heartland Conference regular season action at 11 straight games dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
Tulsa Athletic ends its two-game road trip to start the season at Reign FK on Saturday (May 8) at 7 p.m. at OKWU Soccer Field in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. A live video stream will be available for the contest.
2021 NPSL Season
Heartland Conference
Arkansas 3 : 3 Tulsa
Saturday, May 1
Little Rock, Ark. – Scott Field
Scoring
ARK: Oscar Herrera 21’, 43’
TUL: Aboubakr Diallo 23’
TUL: Alex Harris 43’
TUL: Joe Garcia 53’
ARK: Matheus Ribeiro 87’
Lineups:
Tulsa
Bryson Reed, Jaxn Rogers, Adam Schmoker (Matt Liotta, 46’), Joe Ruiz, Jamie Gilbert, Joe Garcia, Jose Castro (Noah Gonzalves, 55’), Luis Soler, Alex Harris, Aboubakr Diallo, Whitney Gonsalves (Anthony Reyes, 65’)
Arkansas
Jonathan Carrere (Nicholas Juncos 68’), Jhorman Cruz, Nery Flores, Oscar Herrera, Sabelo Hlongwane, Ronald Makaramba, Diego Méndez, Arne Meyer, Andrew Montoya, Salifyaji Mugala (Regis Mawire 78’), Chris Orellana (Matheus Ribeiro, 60’)
