Less than a month after Louisville City FC did all its scoring in the first half of a narrow, June 19 victory at FC Tulsa, the USL Championship rival returned the favor Saturday.
FC Tulsa put a trio of balls in the back of the net over the first 45 minutes of yet another 3-2 result between the two clubs — this one in favor of the hosts at ONEOK Field.
A defeat ended what was a five-game unbeaten streak for the boys in purple, who dropped to 6-3-2 but remained second in the league’s Central Division standings at the season’s one-third mark.
“Really unacceptable how we started the game,” said head coach Danny Cruz. “Obviously, really frustrated conceding three goals here again. We’re leaking goals at the moment, so it’s something certainly that I need to do a better job of, and we’ll work toward fixing that.”
It’s not often LouCity has found itself down three goals in a league game — just five other times in six-plus USL Championship seasons — but City pushed for what would have been an historic comeback completed just once on Oct. 12, 2019, when the boys in purple scored eight unanswered in an 8-3 victory over the former Swope Park Rangers.
Saturday’s rally started in first half stoppage time when Kyle Greig got on the end of a Brian Ownby cross from the right side. Greig’s tapped-in finish marked his third goal in two games, while Ownby registered his team-leading fourth assist, all in the last three games.
LouCity edged a bit closer in the 61st minute when a quickly taken set piece resulted in a Wes Charpie cross and leaping header for Cameron Lancaster, marking his club-best sixth goal of the season.
The boys in purple continued to press for an equalizer, particularly in the 90th minute when Jimmy McLaughlin curled a shot over the bar seconds after subbing on. But they couldn’t completely offset FC Tulsa’s explosive opening.
“We didn’t come out with the right mentality and we kinda got punished for it. To our standards it wasn’t good enough,” Charpie said. “…We had a good response in the second half, but it is very hard when you go down three to nothing and you’re tying to fight, especially on the road. All we have to do is look in the mirror and be honest with mistakes as a team and individually.”
Tulsa scored in the sixth, 16th and 40th minutes, starting on the front foot of a game these two kicked off four hours early to dodge expected severe weather in the region Saturday night.
First, a free kick taken from the edge of the box connected FC Tulsa’s top creator, Rodrigo da Costa, who made it four assists this year when Marlon Santos finished the chance on the cross in.
Next, LouCity goalkeeper Chris Hubbard came off his line to defend a counter. But a chipped pass got past his reach, and Kembo Kibato doubled the lead from point-blank range.
The surge continued when, minutes before the half, Hubbard this time made the play. But his deflected save resulted in da Costa adding a goal to his assist with a headed strike.
LouCity went on to out-shoot FC Tulsa by an 11-9 margin while controlling an astonishing 73.8% of possession. The boys in purple also attempted 24 open play crosses to Tulsa’s four and didn’t concede a corner while trying six of their own.
“We created enough opportunities again tonight to at least get a draw out of it,” Cruz said, “but ultimately it’s not a good result and it’s something we’ve got to look at and try to improve here.”
Amid Tulsa’s onslaught, there were a pair of chances for LouCity to shift momentum earlier. In the 11th minute, a nice pass through found Ownby’s feet in the box, but his contact was less than ideal on the shot. And in the 27th minute, Antoine Hoppenot juked a defender and clipped heels, but the referee didn’t award a penalty kick.
Postgame, Ownby said there were “a lot of emotions going through the head right now.”
“Pretty frustrated with how we started the game,” the forward added. “Obviously, I had the opportunity to put one in the back of the net to make it one-one — didn’t. I could’ve changed everything, but we’ve just got to be better with the ball. We’ve got to value it better.
“Obviously, we’re getting beat in transition. Good heart to fight back and give us a chance, but in the end, we didn’t get the point or three points. So, its just frustrating that we came out and put ourselves behind the eight ball right away.”
There’s little time to dwell on those missed opportunities, however, with this marking the first of three games in eight days. LouCity hosts OKC Energy FC on Wednesday and Atlanta United 2 next Saturday; both kick off at 7:30 p.m. inside Lynn Family Stadium.
Game Summary: FC Tulsa vs. Louisville City FC
Venue: ONEOK Field
Kickoff: 4 p.m.
Man of the Match: Cameron Lancaster
Scoring
FC Tulsa (3, 0, 0)
Louisville City FC (1, 1, 2)
Goals
FC Tulsa:
6’ Marlon (assisted by da Costa)
16’ Kibato (assisted by Sheldon & da Costa)
40’ da Costa
Louisville City FC:
45+1’ Greig (assisted by Ownby)
61’ Lancaster (assisted by Charpie)
Stats Summary: FC Tulsa / Louisville City FC
Shots: 9 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 3
Fouls: 19 / 10
Offside: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 0 / 6
Saves: 1 / 2
Lineups
FC Tulsa: Number-Player Name, Number-Player Name (Minute’ Number-Sub Player Name)
31 – Austin Wormell, 4 – Modou Jadama, 26 – Jorge Corrales (64’ 30 – Lebo Moloto), 2 – Kevin Garcia, 18 – Solomon Kwambe (79’ 5 – Leo Folla), 44 – Eric Bird, 13 – Matthew Sheldon, 10 – Marlon (53’ 9 – Jerome Kiesewetter), 21 – Kembo Kibato, 16 – Rodrigo da Costa, 92 – Dario Suarez
Subs not used: 7 – Stanley Oganbor, 20 – Ciaran Winters, 99 – Raphael Ayagwa, 1 – Sean Lewis
Louisville City FC: 1 – Chris Hubbard, 3 – Alexis Souahy (83’ 8 – Akil Watts), 42 – Jonathan Gomez, 4 – Sean Totsch, 6 – Wes Charpie, 7 – Napo Matsoso (45’ 11 – Niall McCabe), 36 – Paolo DelPiccolo (70’12 – Tyler Gibson), 13 – Corben Bone, 29 – Antoine Hoppenot (45’ 17 – Cameron Lancaster), 10 – Brian Ownby, 21 – Kyle Greig (88’ 20 – Jimmy McLaughlin)
Subs not used: 15 – Pat McMahon, 24 – Parker Siegfried
Discipline Summary
Louisville City: Hoppenot (yellow) 5’
FC Tulsa: Corrales (yellow) 22’
FC Tulsa: Suarez (yellow) 65’
FC Tulsa: Moloto (yellow) 81’
Louisville City: Watts (yellow) 90+1’
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
Assistant Referees: Nicholas Balcer & Shane Kennard
Fourth Official: Brandon Queri
