Tulsa Athletic vs. Little Rock Rangers
Sunday, May 5 at 2 p.m.
Veterans Park – Tulsa, Okla.
$10 bleacher seating, $5 general admission, 18 and under are free.
Livestream: HERE
TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Athletic open the 2019 NPSL season with a home contest on Sunday (May 5) at 2 p.m. against 2018 Heartland Conference champion Little Rock Rangers at Veterans Park. Live video streaming will be available for the season opener.
The contest is the first of three-straight home matches to start the 2019 campaign for Tulsa Athletic. After Sunday’s clash, Tulsa Athletic play host to rival FC Wichita on May 11 before ending the stretch with Ozark FC on May 18. All home contests for Tulsa Athletic start at 2 p.m. at Veterans Park.
The season opener is a rematch of the 2018 season opener when Tulsa Athletic defeated Little Rock 6-1 in the first-ever home match for Tulsa Athletic at Veterans Park, where the club went 4-1 during the 2018 season. Tulsa Athletic are 5-2-1 all-time against Little Rock, including 4-0 in Tulsa.
Tulsa Athletic return 10 players from the 2018 season when the green and yellow finished third in the Heartland Conference standings. Top goal scorer Gustavo Vargas is back after totaling a team-high six goals in 2018 as a defender. Joe Garcia, who had All-American season at Northeastern State in the fall, returns in 2019 for his third season with Tulsa Athletic. He has scored 10 goals in his first two seasons in the green and yellow, including a team-high six goals in 2017.
Other players back after seeing significant time last season are local collegiate players Ryan Alpers, Joe Ruiz and Aaron Ugbah. Alpers and Ruiz, two University of Tulsa products, appeared in all 11 contests last season. Ugbah, who plays at NSU, played in 10 of the 11 matches at forward, and he scored two goals during the 2018 campaign.
Levi Coleman, who has played every season in club history and is the all-time leading scorer, returns after playing in eight matches in 2018. Also back from the 2018 season are Jamie Gilbert, Adam Habib, Bryson Reed and Jordan Schmoker. Santiago Riveros, who played for Tulsa Athletic in 2015 and 2017, returns this season along with another former Athletic player in Thomas Shannon.
Two collegiate All-Americans in Aboubakr Diallo and Billy Nzojyibwami join the club after prolific goal scoring seasons in their 2018 collegiate seasons. The duo combined for 36 goals in the fall as they earned All-American honors.
In the midfield, Tulsa Athletic add local product Scott Adams from NSU along with Juan Arias, Vinicius Oliveira and Javo Reyes.
The back line brought in loads of experience with Elvis Barclay, who played in the NPSL in 2018 for the Milwaukee Torrent, and longtime professional player Claudio Munoz. Frenchmen, Nathan Ndomba, joins the club for the season. Sebastian Valencia Zapata is another defender with international experience in his home country of Colombia.
Season tickets are still on sale for the upcoming season. Two packages are available. The green season ticket membership is $50 for bleacher seating for the 2019 home schedule. The gold season ticket membership is $25 for general admission for the season. To purchase season tickets, go to www.tulsaathletic.com/membership-packages/.
2019 Tulsa Athletic Home Schedule
May 5 – Tulsa Athletic vs. Little Rock Rangers
May 11 – Tulsa Athletic vs. FC Wichita
May 18 – Tulsa Athletic vs. Ozark FC
June 2 – Tulsa Athletic vs. Club Atletico Saint Louis
June 30 – Tulsa Athletic vs. Demize NPSL
