TULSA – Tulsa Athletic cruised to a 5-1 win over OKC 1889 FC on Wednesday (July 6) at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park to capture the Heartland Conference shield as the regular season champion. Damani Harris totaled three first-half goals and the green and yellow added two late tallies for the 5-1 victory.
Tulsa Athletic moved to 8-1-2 in the Heartland Conference with 26 points, and OKC dropped to 7-2-2 with 23 points. The regular season ends on Saturday with both clubs in action.
“We are very pleased with the result and to lock in the Heartland Conference shield for the year,” assistant coach Ray Saari said. “We talk to the boys about winning trophies. It is the main focus of everything that we do. This result was also good for us to take into the playoffs. We have one more game against Reign FK and then the playoffs start.”
Harris totaled three first-half goals to put the home side up at 3-0 after the first 45 minutes. His first goal came in the eighth minute when Titus Grant had a shot that was saved, but Harris was right to slot in the ball for a 1-0 lead early in the contest.
Harris added his second goal in the 45th minute on a free kick when he hit a strike from about 20 yards around the wall and to the left of the goalkeeper for a 2-0 score.
Right before the half, Harris made it 3-0 with a goal on another deflected shot from Grant. The first attempt by Grant was saved, but Harris cleaned up with a shot to the back of the net for the 3-0 advantage.
OKC 1889 scored in the 52nd minute with a goal from Kodai Tanaka for a 3-1 margin.
Juan Moreno tallied a goal in the 90th minute as he put in a cross from DJ Dean to make it 4-1 late in the match.
Ruben Carrasco added the final goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time for the 5-1 score.
Tulsa Athletic ends the regular season on Saturday against Reign FK at 7 p.m. at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park. Tickets are $10 and a live video stream will be available.
