July 14, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – FC Tulsa News Release
TULSA – A tough-fought 90 minutes ended in debate and dispute for FC Tulsa on Wednesday night as a questionable call in the 73′ minute altered the potential outcome of the match, but as interim head coach Donovan Ricketts said after the match, “In football, sometimes you’re going to get calls, and sometimes they’re going to go against you.”
The first half was approached slowly by both sides with neither club earning itself a true scoring chance through the first 30 minutes of play. FC Tulsa was happy to keep possession and dictate the pace of the match, playing with the ball at its feet for 65% of the time through the first half hour of the match. Four total shots were taken, two by each side, as each tried to figure the other out through backward passes and horizontal lobs.
The Tulsa attack seemed to operate by methodical passing and looking for forward Brian Brown to make a run off the hip of the last New Mexico defender throughout the first half. However, the timing was off as the delivered pass always seemed to come one second too late, resulting in four offsides calls against Brown.
Heartbeats increased and fans rose to their feet for the first time in the 39′ minute as a golden chance to score slipped through FC Tulsa’s fingers. Sean McFarlane delivered a beauty into the box, right to the feet of Brown. Brown’s initial close-range shot was denied by the keeper but the rebound fell back to his right foot. His second attempt was denied by another New Mexico defender, and by this time, the scramble was on. Eight players were in the box, two New Mexico men were on their backsides after hurling their bodies to block Tulsa’s barrage, and chaos ensued. Ultimately, the ball would spill out to Noah Powder in his FC Tulsa debut, but Powder put his shot over the crossbar.
The first half concluded with each side totaling four shots, one on target, and zeros on the scoreboard. It was only the third time an FC Tulsa match went into the break tied 0-0 at ONEOK Field this season, the first resulting in a 1-0 win over San Diego Loyal SC, the other holding at 0-0 vs. Miami FC.
It was the visitors that found the back of the net first in the second half, courtesy of Alexis Souahy. A low-driven cross rolled all the way across the Tulsa goal, targeting Souahy at the far post and giving New Mexico United the 1-0 advantage.
Tulsa nearly replied immediately with Rodrigo da Costa searching for…