Michael Nelson’s Five-Save Performance Highlights Evening
Michael Nelson’s Five-Save Performance Highlights Evening
SEASIDE, Calif. – A physical Wednesday night contest on the road consisting of 28 total fouls and three Tulsa injury substitutions resulted in a hard-fought point for FC Tulsa against a difficult opponent in Monterey Bay F.C. Goalkeeper Michael Nelson was terrific in the match, recording the club’s third clean sheet of the season and making five spectacular saves to do so.
The first two scoring chances of the match belonged to FC Tulsa in the first 20 minutes. Eric Bird ripped the first shot of the contest as he looked to continue his scorching scoring form, and Marcus Epps provided the second, but neither found the back of the net.
The hosts did not attempt their first shot of the match until the 25′ minute when they earned back-to-back corner kicks, both of which resulted in danger for FC Tulsa and required top-notch defending to block and clear the threats. Blaine Ferri and Eric Bird were up to the task and kept Michael Nelson from being tested for the time being.
A massive blow for FC Tulsa occured in the 38′ minute when its captain Eric Bird was forced off the pitch due to an apparent injury, a misfortune FC Tulsa would suffer frequently throughout the evening. Bird had found the scoresheet in two of Tulsa’s last three matches before being replaced by Collin Fernandez on Wednesday night.
Monterey Bay remained on the front foot for the remainder of the first half, earning one genuine scoring opportunity that was dealt with by Nelson along with several other half-chances.
The injury bug bit once again in the 53′ minute, and this time it sunk its teeth into Rashid Tetteh. Blair Gavin was left with no choice but to burn another substitution window to replace the Ghanaian center-back with veteran Bradley Bourgeois.
The Union continued to attack with potency throughout the second half by outshooting FC Tulsa 13-1, but Michael Nelson remained unbeaten between the posts and combined with Bourgeois for a miraculous goal line stop just seconds after the defender entered action.
Yet another injury piled up for Tulsa in the 78′ minute when Justin Malou exited the contest after heavy contact with a player from the home side and a visit from the training staff.
The best scoring chance of the match missed by an inch five minutes later when a shot off the boot of Monterey Bay’s Simon Dawkins thundered off the bottom of the crossbar and dribbled onto Nelson’s line, but did not cross it. The Tulsa defense sprinted to retrieve the bouncing ball and cleared the threat.
When all was said and done, Tulsa’s makeshift 11 secured a very respectable point over 1,600 miles away from home. Michael Nelson and his backline secured the club’s third clean sheet of the season to make it back-to-back quality road results for the club.
Nelson increased his save total to 38 on the season, just three shy of the USL Championship lead, as his save percentage climbed up to 73.1%.
GOALS
N/A
LINEUPS
Tulsa: Nelson, Armour, Ruxi, Tetteh, Malou, Bird, Pearson, Ferri, Epps, Yosef, Goodrum (Subs Used: Fernandez, Dyer, Bourgeois, Suárez, Corrales)
Monterey Bay: Siaha, Martinez, Fehr, Greene, Doner, Rebollar, Murphy, Gleadle, Enríquez, Dixon, Volesky (Subs Used: Okoli, Boone, Dawkins)
UP NEXT
FC Tulsa will have eight days to regroup, recover, and get healthy before its final of three consecutive road matches on Friday, June 9 at Loudoun United FC. The match will be broadcasted locally on My41 Tulsa and streamed nationally on ESPN+.
