TULSA – Tulsa Athletic scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of action to cruise to a 3-0 win over FC Wichita to take over first place in the Mid-American Conference standings on Saturday (June 14) at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park.
With the win, Tulsa Athletic moved to 4-0-2 in league play with 12 points to move into first place in the conference. The green and yellow are currently on a four-game winning streak.
FC Wichita lost for the first time this season and fell to 3-1-1 with 10 points.
Tulsa Athletic scored one of the quickest goals in club history when Luis Flores scored in the second minute of action to put the home side up 1-0 with his team-leading fourth goal of the season. Flores got free in the box and hit a strike with his left foot. Joe Ruiz earned the assist on the goal.
The green and yellow kept pushing and upped the advantage to 2-0 in the 10th minute on a goal from Ruiz as he hit a missile from 25 yards away with his left foot.
Tulsa kept pushing forward in the first half with two more opportunities late in the first 45 minutes. Flores got loose and his strike went just over the crossbar. Ben Morgan had a shot go wide in the 37th minute.
Tulsa held the lead 2-0 at halftime.
In the second half, Tulsa Athletic put the game away with a goal in the 80th minute by Danny Smith, his first of the season, on a header on a corner kick from Aimar Membrila, who earned the assist.
Bryson Reed earned his second straight shutout win, going 90 minutes in goal. The backline of Adien Ussery, Gustavo Vargas, Francisco Lopez and Ebenezer Beti limited the FC offense to very few opportunities on goal.
Tulsa Athletic goes on the road for two straight contests. The green and yellow travel to Union KC on Saturday (June 21) for a 4 p.m. contest in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. After that contest, Tulsa Athletic goes to OKC 1889 FC on Wednesday, June 25 in Oklahoma City.
