TULSA – On Wednesday, FC Tulsa will take on Houston Dynamo FC. While it may just be a preseason friendly played at a neutral site on Texas A&M’s campus in College Station, it will be the first time the FC Tulsa badge has shared the pitch with an MLS club. The history of the matchup is fun, but more importantly the match will serve as a litmus test for how FC Tulsa’s preseason is progressing.
This will be FC Tulsa’s first preseason match against another team, and if Saturday morning’s 70-minute intrasquad scrimmage is any indication, the squad is very ready to play against someone else.
SCOUTING HOUSTON DYNAMO FC
It has been an offseason of transition for Houston. Firstly, the club rebranded, moving away from the only MLS crest it had ever known to a sleek, modernized crest for 2021 while adding to “FC” to Houston Dynamo. It also ended its partnership with USL Championship affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC, as RGV going fully independent.
Dynamo FC and second-year head coach Tab Ramos will hope that the organizational changes carry over to the pitch. It was a rough 2020 for the club as it finished last in the Western Conference with just 21 points in 23 matches, and had the second-worst record in MLS, in front of Wooden Spoon-winning FC Cincinnati. Houston began its preseason schedule last weekend against Austin Bold FC with a 2-0 win.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1) Former Dynamo Trio Returns
FC Tulsa boasts three former members of the Houston Dynamo FC organization in defenders Bradley Bourgeois and Kevin Garcia and midfielder Eric Bird. Bourgeois was signed by Houston as a Homegrown Player while Garcia and Bird each were signed to USL affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC and worked their way up to signing with Dynamo FC. This will be the first matchup against Houston for all three since they each left the organization.
2) Tulsa vs. MLS
It’ll be a historic moment when the whistle blows for kickoff on Wednesday as it will be the third time in franchise history that Tulsa has played a MLS club, and the first as “FC Tulsa.” The Tulsa Roughnecks saw MLS competition twice, a 2-1 U.S. Open Cup defeat in 2017 to the hands of FC Dallas, and a 2-1 preseason loss to Chicago Fire FC in prior to the 2018 season. The last time Houston lost to a USL opponent was during the 2015 preseason when it suffered back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Charleston Battery and the now defunct Austin Aztex.
3) Darío Loves the Preseason
FC Tulsa forward Darío Suárez is just as lethal in the preseason as he is in the regular season. His goal in FC Tulsa’s intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday gives the Cuban four goals in five career preseason appearances for FC Tulsa. In addition to his eight regular season goals in 2020, he has found the back of the net 12 times for Tulsa in all competitions, the most on the club during that span.
HOW TO FOLLOW
The match won’t be streamed, but if you do happen to live in South Texas or want to make a late Spring Break trip down to College Station, the match is open to fans and attendance is free!
If you aren’t in the mood for a last-minute flight or a 7-hour drive, you can follow @FCTulsa on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as your favorite content team will be on hand to provide you with coverage of all of the action.
TULSA – On Wednesday, FC Tulsa will take on Houston Dynamo FC. While it may just be a preseason friendly played at a neutral site on Texas A&M’s campus in College Station, it will be the first time the FC Tulsa badge has shared the pitch with an MLS club. The history of the matchup is fun, but more importantly the match will serve as a litmus test for how FC Tulsa’s preseason is progressing.
This will be FC Tulsa’s first preseason match against another team, and if Saturday morning’s 70-minute intrasquad scrimmage is any indication, the squad is very ready to play against someone else.
SCOUTING HOUSTON DYNAMO FC
It has been an offseason of transition for Houston. Firstly, the club rebranded, moving away from the only MLS crest it had ever known to a sleek, modernized crest for 2021 while adding to “FC” to Houston Dynamo. It also ended its partnership with USL Championship affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC, as RGV going fully independent.
Dynamo FC and second-year head coach Tab Ramos will hope that the organizational changes carry over to the pitch. It was a rough 2020 for the club as it finished last in the Western Conference with just 21 points in 23 matches, and had the second-worst record in MLS, in front of Wooden Spoon-winning FC Cincinnati. Houston began its preseason schedule last weekend against Austin Bold FC with a 2-0 win.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1) Former Dynamo Trio Returns
FC Tulsa boasts three former members of the Houston Dynamo FC organization in defenders Bradley Bourgeois and Kevin Garcia and midfielder Eric Bird. Bourgeois was signed by Houston as a Homegrown Player while Garcia and Bird each were signed to USL affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC and worked their way up to signing with Dynamo FC. This will be the first matchup against Houston for all three since they each left the organization.
2) Tulsa vs. MLS
It’ll be a historic moment when the whistle blows for kickoff on Wednesday as it will be the third time in franchise history that Tulsa has played a MLS club, and the first as “FC Tulsa.” The Tulsa Roughnecks saw MLS competition twice, a 2-1 U.S. Open Cup defeat in 2017 to the hands of FC Dallas, and a 2-1 preseason loss to Chicago Fire FC in prior to the 2018 season. The last time Houston lost to a USL opponent was during the 2015 preseason when it suffered back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Charleston Battery and the now defunct Austin Aztex.
3) Darío Loves the Preseason
FC Tulsa forward Darío Suárez is just as lethal in the preseason as he is in the regular season. His goal in FC Tulsa’s intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday gives the Cuban four goals in five career preseason appearances for FC Tulsa. In addition to his eight regular season goals in 2020, he has found the back of the net 12 times for Tulsa in all competitions, the most on the club during that span.
HOW TO FOLLOW
The match won’t be streamed, but if you do happen to live in South Texas or want to make a late Spring Break trip down to College Station, the match is open to fans and attendance is free!
If you aren’t in the mood for a last-minute flight or a 7-hour drive, you can follow @FCTulsa on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as your favorite content team will be on hand to provide you with coverage of all of the action.
