The conditions were ripe for a “Cupset” for quite a while, but in the end, FC Tulsa refused to comply with the script.
Despite an outstanding performance from Tulsa Athletic goalkeeper Jakub Grzesiak, FC Tulsa finally broke through when Taylor Calheira converted a penalty kick in the 84th minute, enabling the USL Championship club to pull out a 1-0 victory in hostile territory at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park in Tulsa on Tuesday night, in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament.
Battling through intense wind, featuring gusts of up to 40 miles per hour, FC Tulsa survived the scare and advanced to the second round of the tournament against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
“We expected it to be very difficult, we talked about how it was going to be all about mentality, because of the conditions,” FC Tulsa coach Luke Spencer said afterwards. “The field is in no shape to play on, we knew that coming in, and with the wind as strong as it was, the game was never going to shape up to be a proper football game. From that standpoint, we’re very proud of the group. We showed some real character, some real fight and determination to find a way to win.”
With Athletic playing a man down from the 67th minute, a hand ball was called in the box in the 83rd minute, sending Calheira to the dot. He fired low, just inside the left goalpost, to beat Grzesiak for what became the game-winning goal.
“That’s what you practice for, and you just got to take the pressure and step up to take it and just be confident,” Calheira said of his mindset stepping up for the PK. “In the end, it won us the game and I’m happy about it, but it was a great team effort, and we couldn’t do it without the clean sheet and the defense today. It was great.”
It was a tough result for the home side to deal with, as they were hoping for a repeat of their big upset win over FC Tulsa in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup second round. With Grzesiak making at least four spectacular saves in the game, and nine total, Athletic managed to fend off the more skilled FC Tulsa for most of the night.
“I thought we had some really good moments in the game,” said Athletic coach John Woodhead. “With the game plan, we executed it to a T. We’ve been working really hard in training, and unfortunately, two big decisions didn’t go our way tonight. The sending off (of Vargas) was questionable, and obviously, the PK, he has handled it, however before that, there was an action that led him to handle it, and it didn’t get called.
“I’m super-proud of the boys. We worked our (butts) off, most of the fellas have been at work since 7 a.m. today, so to take them 90 minutes, to get a penalty one man down, it is what it is.”
As the game continued, FC Tulsa continued to press, refusing to get frustrated by the outstanding stops from Grzesiak. They stayed with the game plan and it paid off in the end.
“We stuck to the process, kept on believing, and the belief of this group is high,” Spencer said of his team, which has gotten off to a strong 2-0 start in the USL Championship season. “We thought down the stretch that we would get something. I thought Edwin (Laszo) coming on as a sub (in the 66th minute) gave us something in the attack, and credit to their ‘keeper, Jakub, he came up big multiple times. He kept them in it, but we were happy to get the penalty at the end, for sure.”
There has been some animosity in the past between these two teams from the same city, the plucky, amateur Athletic having built up a solid, loyal following over the years, despite having led a somewhat nomadic existence at times, with about five different homes over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, the professional FC Tulsa team, which plays in downtown Tulsa, has had its ups and downs in the USL Championship, missing the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.
Those tensions seemed to spill over onto the pitch Tuesday night, with tempers flaring and multiple yellow cards given to both sides.
Spencer, whose bench received a yellow card of their own right before halftime, said his team was ready for the physicality of the contest.
Ultimately, that ended up really hurting the Athletic when star defender Gustavo Vargas was shown his second yellow of the night in the 67th minute, turning into a red card ejection and leaving his team a man short the rest of the way.
Woodhead believes that was a turning point. His team had the wind behind them and some momentum at the time, especially after Luis Flores had just had their best scoring opportunity off a corner kick in the 60th minute that forced FC Tulsa goalkeeper Johan Penaranda to make an excellent leaping save.
“I felt like we were having a spell and that was our time to get a goal, and obviously, the sending off ruined that for us,” Woodhead said. “It’s tough, the sending off obviously spoils the game and gives them the favor. Sometimes, the pro side coming to town, they get a few decisions. It is what it is.”
The Athletic, who won the NPSL National Championship in 2023 playing out of nearby Claremore, moved over to the UPSL last season (and back to Hicks Park) before joining the fledgling The League for Clubs for the upcoming 2025 season. To get into the U.S. Open Cup, they had to win three games during the amateur Midwest Region qualifying tournament last Fall. They defeated FC Bartlesville Buffaloes 4-0 on Oct. 26, then beat Woodland (Kansas) FC 8-0 on Nov. 16 before taking down Chicago House AC 0-0 (5-4 in PKs) in Elmhurst, Illinois, on Dec. 8 to make it in for the fourth straight year.
This was the third time these teams met in U.S. Open Cup play, with each having won once in the previous two contests. FC Tulsa won the first head-to-head matchup in the second round of 2022’s tournament with a 2-1 victory at their home stadium in downtown Tulsa, ONEOK Field, and the Athletic pulled off the stunning 1-0 upset in 2023’s U.S. Open Cup second round here at Hicks Field.
Last year, the Athletic lost 4-1 to USL1’s Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in the first round, preventing another potential meeting in the third round, when FC Tulsa entered the tournament and beat the Hailstorm 2-1 at ONEOK Field. FC Tulsa went on to beat fellow USL Championship side Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 1-0 in the Round of 32 before falling 4-0 to Sporting Kansas City of MLS in the Round of 16, marking their deepest U.S. Open Cup run in their history.
Early on in this one, the Athletic survived several outstanding scoring chances over the first 15 minutes, as Grzesiak made outstanding diving saves in the seventh minute on Boubacar Diallo’s 25-yard blast from the left side and on Owen Damm’s 20-yard shot in the 12th minute.
While FC Tulsa still enjoyed the territorial advantage over the next 15 minutes or so, generating several corner kicks and shots that missed the target, the Athletic started pushing back. Flores drilled a 30-yard shot that forced Penaranda to make a good save in the 35th minute.
Tension and tempers started to bubble over in the final minutes of the first half as there were multiple confrontations between players, and three yellow cards handed out in a two-minute span in stoppage time.
Multiple cards were handed out in the second half as well.
Five minutes after Vargas was ejected, Calheira nearly set up a goal, but his pass was re-directed in front by Stefan Stojanovic, resulting in another excellent stop by Grzesiak.
The Athletic had another great chance to take the lead in the 77th minute, when Flores boomed a 35-yard free kick that appeared headed for the upper right corner, but Penaranda made an outstanding diving stop to keep the score level.
Even though the home side Athletic had far more supporters in the crowd, FC Tulsa also had a vocal contingent of fans on hand. It was really a nice showing for the Tulsa soccer community overall.
“There was great fans, great atmosphere tonight,” Calheira acknowledged. “There’s no excuses of course, but the wind, the field, but in the end, you fight. It’s about passion and who wanted it more. We wanted it and we weren’t going to lose today.”