The Tulsa Roughnecks FC continued its preparations for the 2018 USL regular season with its second match of the preseason Saturday afternoon in Kansas City in a matchup with the Swope Park Rangers. The Roughnecks spotted the Rangers a two-goal lead before rallying with a pair of goals of their own to gain a 2-2 draw with last year’s Western Conference Champions.
The starting 11 Saturday for the Roughnecks and Head Coach David Vaudreuil included goalkeeper Fabian Cerda, who played the first 45 minutes. It was the first appearance of the preseason for last year’s TRFC keeper.
After a pedestrian first half hour, Cerda benefited from the crossbar as a nice buildup from the Rangers ended with former Roughnecks midfielder Chase Minter striking the woodwork in the 34th minute.
The pressure from Swope Park continued, resulting in the first goal of the match five minutes later when Matheus Silva beat Cerda with a curling free kick from 25 yards to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
It remained a one-goal match into halftime, but things picked up shortly after the restart. In the 60th minute, Hadji Barry beat TRFC keeper Chase Berry from the penalty spot to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
Just seconds later, at the other end, the Roughnecks were awarded a penalty kick of their own after a foul in the box. Joaquin Rivas converted on the spot kick to pull TRFC to within 2-1.
TRFC waited until late to grab the equalizing goal. In the 88th minute, a trialist with the Roughnecks dribbled into space in the penalty area and beat the SPR keeper to make it 2-2.
“It was a good early test for us, against a good, young professional team,” said Vaudreuil. “The first half was tough as we were going against the wind, and you could tell that several of our guys have just got into camp, as our fitness and organization were lacking. But, we played hard and got better as the game went along. Overall, it was a good outing.”
The draw leaves the Roughnecks with a 1-0-1 record in the preseason with four games still remaining, including meetings against Oral Roberts University, the Chicago Fire and San Antonio FC still remaining.
TRFC will continue training this week, culminating in a matchup with Oklahoma Wesleyan University next Saturday. The match will be played at OKWU’s stadium in Bartlesville with kickoff scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
