STILWELL, Kan. – Juan Moreno finished with a brace as Tulsa Athletic won, 4-2, at Sunflower State FC on Saturday (June 25) at Blue Valley High School. With the win, Tulsa Athletic clinched a home playoff match on July 13.
The green and yellow moved to 7-1-2 on the season with 23 points to lead the conference. The win means Tulsa will finish in the top two in the conference with a key matchup with OKC 1889 FC, the second place team, coming up on July 6 at home.
Moreno opened the scoring in the second minute when he took possession of a deflected shot and split the defense, firing a goal for a 1-0 advantage early in the contest.
Tulsa Athletic doubled the lead to 2-0 in the 26th minute. Moreno’s free kick from about 30 yards went to the left side of the box, and Joel Quashie sent in a cross that Joe Ruiz connected with to score for the 2-0 edge.
The green and yellow held a 2-0 lead after the first 45 minutes.
Moreno added his second goal for the brace in the 49th minute to make it 3-0 early in the second half. Abou Diallo got a touch on a ball to Moreno and he fired a shot to the upper right corner for his second goal of the match and his fourth goal of the season.
Sunflower State got on the scoreboard in the 53rd minute. After a foul just at the edge of the box, the penalty kick to the lower corner just was out of the reach of Tulsa goalkeeper Bryson Reed for the 3-1 margin.
The home side added another goal in the 59th minute for a 3-2 score. A cross in was blasted into the right corner for the goal.
Tulsa Athletic put the match away with a goal in the 75th minute by Ruben Carrasco for a 4-2 mark. A perfectly placed long ball toward Aaron Ugbah down the right wing allowed the winger to show off his pace, and Ugbah sent a ball across the goal with Carrasco getting his foot on it to score just inside the left side of the goal for the two-goal margin. The goal was Carrasco’s second of the season.
Tulsa Athletic is off next week before returning to action when they host OKC 1889 FC on Wednesday, July 6 at 7 p.m. at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park. The match is between the top two clubs in the Heartland Conference. A live stream will be available.
