FC Tulsa Heads Home to Take on Hartford Athletic Next Saturday Night
IRVINE, Calif. – Friday night was one to forget for FC Tulsa as five first half goals allowed, plus a red card, were more than enough to lead to a blowout loss to the defending USL Championship title holders Orange County SC 5-1. A stoppage time goal by substitute Brian Brown provided a positive note in an otherwise negative performance as FC Tulsa lost its fifth consecutive road match to start the year and are still searching for a result away from ONEOK Field.
It’s also the fifth loss in six matches in league play for a Tulsa team who has now fallen to 4-7-0 this season and are on the outside of the USL Championship Playoffs picture.
As has happened often this season, FC Tulsa conceded early as Orange County took advantage of a set piece in the 5′ minute. A free kick near the corner found a wide open Erick Torres who easily headed in the match’s first goal.
Orange County quickly doubled the lead in the 9′ minute when Milan Iloski ran past the Tulsa backline and finished well past Tulsa keeper Sean Lewis. Unfortunately, Orange County made it three goals on three shots in the 20′ minute when Iloski scored his brace from the middle of the box.
It got from bad to worse in the 30′ minute when Tulsa center-back Adrián Diz Pe was shown a red card for a foul in the box. Daniel Pedersen converted the penalty to put FC Tulsa in a four-goal deficit. At the stroke of halftime, Iloski earned his hat trick to make it 5-0.
FC Tulsa avoided the shutout on the final kick of the match in stoppage time when substitutes Brian Brown and Abuchi Obinwa combined for a consolation goal. Obinwa found Brown on the right side of the box, and Brown made no mistake, netting his first USL Championship goal as a member of FC Tulsa. It was also Obinwa’s first time on the scoresheet in the league after making the move from USL League One in the offseason.
After four substitutions by the start of second half, FC Tulsa was able to keep its net clean throughout the final 45 minutes with Lewis making three saves for Tulsa after Orange County scored on its first five shots on target.
FC Tulsa will be back home next Saturday night for the first of six Summer Concert Series matches at ONEOK Field. King Cabbage Brass Band will start the party at 6 p.m. outside ONEOK with a free concert before FC Tulsa kicks off a first-ever meeting against Hartford Athletic at 7:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to stay immediately after the match for a Fireworks Show, courtesy of FC Tulsa.
