TULSA – Back on Tulsa time.
Forty-six days away from ONEOK Field made Wednesday night's 4-3 victory over Sporting KC II that much more sweet for FC Tulsa. After more than six weeks on the road, FC Tulsa heard the roar of the home fans four times in the victory, which was just enough to hang on to the three points.
The stars shined bright as Rodrigo da Costa, Marlon Santos, Darío Suárez and Joaquín Rivas all found the back of the net in the first four-goal offensive output in FC Tulsa era.
Looking like a mirror of the matchup two weeks ago between the sides, Kansas City struck early in the first half before FC Tulsa found the net just before halftime. Da Costa score the first in the 42' and almost a second during first half stoppage, but fellow Brazilian Marlon Santos cleaned up the deflection off the SKC II keeper to tap in the go-ahead tally.
The floodgates opened in the second half when Suárez earned and then finished a penalty before Rivas sliced through the Sporting KC II backline to make it 4-1. A rout turned into a squeaker in the final five minutes as late substitute Tyler Freeman scored twice to make it 4-3 before the final whistle.
The three points push FC Tulsa to third place in the Central Division, one point behind Saturday's opponent Louisville City FC.
Here are three takeaways from the victory.
1) DA COSTA THE DIFFERENCE
This is the Rodrigo da Costa we all remember from 2019 – scoring goals, setting others up and being the straw that stirs the FC Tulsa drink.
After a quiet first 40 minutes offensively for the entire FC Tulsa team, Rodrigo da Costa sparked the fire that got FC Tulsa in front at halftime. The Brazilian midfielder bagged the equalizer before doing the heavy lifting on the second tally just before the halftime whistle. He won't get on the scoresheet for the second, but a nearly identical shot to his goal three minutes earlier made it an easy tap-in for Santos. Ultimately, da Costa bagged his assist on Tulsa's final goal of the night after a fancy 1-2 linkup with Joaquín Rivas, giving him three helpers in 2021, tied for second in the USL Championship.
2) RIVAS ENDS LONG DAY ON HIGH NOTE
Less than 24 hours after stepping on the pitch in the second of FC Tulsa's victory on Wednesday, Joaquín Rivas was cheering on his Salvadoran teammates to victory and to the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning with just two hours of sleep, Rivas boarded a plane from El Salvador to Houston and then Houston to Tulsa to get back into town this afternoon.
Not lack of sleep nor international travel could keep Rivas from the scoresheet as he played nearly 40 minutes and secured the match-winning goal off the bench. The goal was Rivas' fifth of the season and 22 of his Tulsa career, the most in club history.
3) THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
Ah, beautiful ONEOK Field. FC Tulsa's home sweet home continues to be a sanctuary as the win extended FC Tulsa's franchise-best home unbeaten streak to seven matches and winning streak to five matches.Both streaks are the longest in franchise history and dates back to the last time Sporting Kansas City II played in Tulsa, August 29, 2020.
That match in 2020 remains the only time FC Tulsa has lost at ONEOK in this new era of the franchise, going 6W-1L-3D in 10 home matches over the two seasons.
UP NEXT
FC Tulsa will be right back at ONEOK Field on Saturday night against the two-time league champions, Louisville City FC at 7 p.m. It'll be the first meeting between the sides since FC Tulsa's inaugural USL Championship season in 2015. Louisville City FC has advanced to every Eastern Conference Final since 2015, won the USL Championship Final in 2017 and 2018 and was the runner-up in 2019.
TULSA – Back on Tulsa time.
Forty-six days away from ONEOK Field made Wednesday night’s 4-3 victory over Sporting KC II that much more sweet for FC Tulsa. After more than six weeks on the road, FC Tulsa heard the roar of the home fans four times in the victory, which was just enough to hang on to the three points.
The stars shined bright as Rodrigo da Costa, Marlon Santos, Darío Suárez and Joaquín Rivas all found the back of the net in the first four-goal offensive output in FC Tulsa era.
Looking like a mirror of the matchup two weeks ago between the sides, Kansas City struck early in the first half before FC Tulsa found the net just before halftime. Da Costa score the first in the 42′ and almost a second during first half stoppage, but fellow Brazilian Marlon Santos cleaned up the deflection off the SKC II keeper to tap in the go-ahead tally.
The floodgates opened in the second half when Suárez earned and then finished a penalty before Rivas sliced through the Sporting KC II backline to make it 4-1. A rout turned into a squeaker in the final five minutes as late substitute Tyler Freeman scored twice to make it 4-3 before the final whistle.
The three points push FC Tulsa to third place in the Central Division, one point behind Saturday’s opponent Louisville City FC.
Here are three takeaways from the victory.
1) DA COSTA THE DIFFERENCE
This is the Rodrigo da Costa we all remember from 2019 – scoring goals, setting others up and being the straw that stirs the FC Tulsa drink.
After a quiet first 40 minutes offensively for the entire FC Tulsa team, Rodrigo da Costa sparked the fire that got FC Tulsa in front at halftime. The Brazilian midfielder bagged the equalizer before doing the heavy lifting on the second tally just before the halftime whistle. He won’t get on the scoresheet for the second, but a nearly identical shot to his goal three minutes earlier made it an easy tap-in for Santos. Ultimately, da Costa bagged his assist on Tulsa’s final goal of the night after a fancy 1-2 linkup with Joaquín Rivas, giving him three helpers in 2021, tied for second in the USL Championship.
2) RIVAS ENDS LONG DAY ON HIGH NOTE
Less than 24 hours after stepping on the pitch in the second of FC Tulsa’s victory on Wednesday, Joaquín Rivas was cheering on his Salvadoran teammates to victory and to the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning with just two hours of sleep, Rivas boarded a plane from El Salvador to Houston and then Houston to Tulsa to get back into town this afternoon.
Not lack of sleep nor international travel could keep Rivas from the scoresheet as he played nearly 40 minutes and secured the match-winning goal off the bench. The goal was Rivas’ fifth of the season and 22 of his Tulsa career, the most in club history.
3) THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
Ah, beautiful ONEOK Field. FC Tulsa’s home sweet home continues to be a sanctuary as the win extended FC Tulsa’s franchise-best home unbeaten streak to seven matches and winning streak to five matches.Both streaks are the longest in franchise history and dates back to the last time Sporting Kansas City II played in Tulsa, August 29, 2020.
That match in 2020 remains the only time FC Tulsa has lost at ONEOK in this new era of the franchise, going 6W-1L-3D in 10 home matches over the two seasons.
UP NEXT
FC Tulsa will be right back at ONEOK Field on Saturday night against the two-time league champions, Louisville City FC at 7 p.m. It’ll be the first meeting between the sides since FC Tulsa’s inaugural USL Championship season in 2015. Louisville City FC has advanced to every Eastern Conference Final since 2015, won the USL Championship Final in 2017 and 2018 and was the runner-up in 2019.
