June 25, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – FC Tulsa News Release
TULSA – On a blistering summer evening in Tulsa with temperatures touching triple digits, the weather was not the only thing heating up at ONEOK Field. The FC Tulsa offense roared to life, headlined by a JJ Williams first-half brace, and ended its scoreless streak while securing all three points in Donovan Ricketts’ first home match after being named the club’s interim head coach nine days ago.
It took the Tulsa attack all of 17 minutes to open the scoring on Saturday night, courtesy of forward JJ Williams’ sixth tally of the season. Bradley Bourgeois earned his first assist of the season on the very night the Tulsa captain was presented with a “Bourgeois 10k” jersey prior to the match, celebrating Bourgeois reaching 10,000 career USL Championship minute mark on June 2. A lurking Williams connected with Bourgeois’ delivery from the left corner, slotting it home to give Tulsa the early 1-0 lead.
However, Williams was not content with just one goal. The 6’3” forward connected on a free kick sent in courtesy of the King of FC Tulsa Assists, Rodrigo da Costa, heading the ball past the Charleston Battery keeper to secure Williams’ second brace of the 2022 season just 17 minutes after his first goal of the match. Williams and da Costa came into Saturday night tied for the club lead with five goals each, a stat that Williams now holds sole possession of with seven scores.
Charleston was able to get one back right in the first minute of first-half stoppage as Mauro Cichero found a pocket of space on the left side of the Tulsa defense, cementing the halftime score at 2-1 in favor of the good guys. Cichero’s goal marked only the fourth time all season that FC Tulsa goalkeeper Austin Wormell conceded a goal.
That was all the offense the Battery would muster as FC Tulsa dropped numbers back in the second half to protect its lead. Despite controlling possession in the final third for what felt like an eternity to FC Tulsa fans near the end of the match, Charleston was held to only four total shots in the second half, none of which were on target.
FC Tulsa moves to 5W-2L-2D at ONEOK Field in 2022 while Donovan Ricketts is now perfect in front of the home crowd as the interim head coach.
Attached are Final Stats and Postmatch Quotes from interim head coach Donovan Ricketts, forward JJ Williams, and defender Bradley…