TULSA – Tulsa Athletic won the Heartland Conference Championship for the third straight season with a 5-1 victory over OKC 1889 FC on Saturday (July 16) night at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park.
The green and yellow jumped out in front early, totaling three goals in the first 21 minutes to build a 3-0 advantage and cruise to the 5-1 victory.
Aaron Ugbah opened the scoring for Tulsa with a header for a goal in only the 12th minute of the contest.
Juan Moreno added the second goal for the green and yellow in the 17th minute when he fired a shot from the top of the box after Abou Diallo sent a ball toward goal that came out to Moreno. Tulsa Athletic held an early 2-0 edge.
Ugbah played in a perfect cross to Reed Berry for the third goal of the match in the 21st minute. Ugbah placed the ball right to Berry who just needed to get his foot on it for a 3-0 advantage after only about 20 minutes of action.
Tulsa held a 3-0 margin after the first half.
Tulsa Athletic used a counter to score in the 66th minute and extend the lead to 4-0. The green and yellow had a 3 v 1 counter after a corner kick from OKC and Berry sent a ball in to Diallo. Diallo took a touch to get around the goalkeeper and hit a shot from the right to make it 4-0.
OKC 1889 FC scored a goal in the 71st minute for a 4-1 score.
Ruben Carrasco upped the score to 5-1 in the 81st minute. His shot with his left foot found the back of the net for the final tally of the match.
OKC earned a late red card in the 85th minute.
Tulsa Athletic went on to win 5-1 and capture its third straight Heartland Conference Championship. The green and yellow won the Heartland Conference crown in 2019 and 2021.
The green and yellow defeated OKC 1889 for the third time this season. It was the second straight time Tulsa won by the score of 5-1 at Hicks Park. The green and yellow won 3-0 in OKC earlier in the regular season.
Tulsa Athletic hosts the South Region Semifinals on Wednesday (July 20) at 7:30 p.m. at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park. Tickets are $10 at the gate. And a live video stream will be available.
