TULSA – Tulsa Athletic used a 2-1 win over Houston Regals to capture the 2024 American Champions Cup in a game started on Saturday night and finished Sunday at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park.
The matchup was between two league champions as Tulsa Athletic won the 2023 NPSL National Championship, and Houston Regals won the 2024 USSSA National Championship.
Luis Flores scored a first-half goal, and Rio Mello tallied the game-winning goal in the second half on a free kick to lift Tulsa Athletic to the 2-1 victory.
The contest started on Saturday night with the first 51 minutes of action being complete before storms moved into the Tulsa area. With thunder and lighting in the area Saturday night, the final 39 minutes of action were played on Sunday.
On Saturday night, Flores started the scoring in the 20th minute when a failed clearance came to him, and he hit a strike with his left foot from 14 yards out to put the home side up 1-0 early.
The green and yellow held the 1-0 edge into halftime and for the first six minutes of action before the weather delay on Saturday night.
Early during the restart on Sunday, Mello took advantage of a free kick from about 22 yards out and crushed it to the left top corner to make it 2-0 in the 60th minute. The kick was just tipped by the Houston wall of players, but the strike had the power to still go in the back of the goal.
A second yellow card in the 71st minute changed the final 19 minutes of action and the 10 minutes of extra time. Tweneboa Kodua was sent off with a red after his second caution to put Tulsa at 10 players for the final part of the game.
Houston scored on a header right after the restart to pull within one at 2-1 in the 80th minute.
The green and yellow had some late opportunities to put the game away late, but Houston’s goalkeeper came up with some big saves. Will Applegate subbed in late for Tulsa and provided the pressure on Houston late.
Despite playing down a man, Tulsa closed out the game for the 2-1 win and added another trophy.
Ryder Claborn went the full 90 minutes in goal and made some big saves while allowing one goal.
The American Champions Cup was the final game of the 2024 summer season for Tulsa Athletic. The green and yellow finished with friendly game wins over Denton Diablo FC, OKC 1889 FC and Little Rock Rangers. And with draws over FC Dallas U23 and at OKC 1889 FC, Tulsa Athletic went 4-0-2 during their summer season.
For more information on Tulsa Athletic, go to tulsaathletic.com.
