FC Tulsa survived a spirited challenge from Little Rock Rangers and pulled away late for a 4-2 win in Round 1 of the US Open Cup on Wednesday night.
In a Little Rock high school football stadium, the Rangers, an amateur side from USL League Two, pushed their professional visitors from the USL Championship deep into the second half before Tulsa finally put the match away.
While FC Tulsa began its USL Championship regular season two weeks ago, the Little Rock team had only trained together for three days before the match as the USL League Two season does not kick off until May.
“Some of the guys are going to come back this summer,” Rangers head coach Francesco Brunetti explained. “Some of our older guys work here in town. Some of them took a shift, 9-5 today, and came to play. And the second goal was scored by one of our academy kids. We had three academy kids playing at the end.”
“I think it means everything to them, right?” Tulsa manager Luke Spencer said of his opponents after the match. “It’s their opportunity, so they’re really excited for it, regardless of the circumstances. And I think that the challenge for us is that it’s an environment that we haven’t been in before. But, all in all, I’m just happy with the result.”
An 85th-minute strike from Little Rock academy player Aiden Turner was one of the highlights of the match as it cut Tulsa’s lead to 3-2. Turner, a high school senior committed to play Division III soccer at Hendrix College next year, recovered a deflected shot in the box and slotted it past the goalkeeper at the near post.
“I saw it go in the net and I was hurrying to get the ball,” Turner said. “I tried not to celebrate too much because we still had a job to do.”
Just seconds after Turner’s goal, Tulsa’s Nelson Pierre rifled a low shot into the net to restore Tulsa’s two-goal lead and seal the victory.
“I think there were a lot of positives to take away,” Spencer said of his Tulsa team. “We wanted to be dangerous in front of goal, create a lot of opportunities and be able to finish them.”
FC Tulsa grabbed the lead early with two first-half goals. Harvey St. Clair finished a Bruno Lapa cross in the 18th minute to open the scoring. In the 31st minute, Tulsa extended its lead through a powerful Jamie Webber volley from outside the box.
Little Rock responded in the 51st minute when Raphael Kistmann turned a Jon Koka cross off the crossbar and into the goal. Tulsa’s Lamar Batista headed home a lofted set piece from Webber in the 71st minute to extend his team’s lead back to two goals. Turner scored in the 85th minute before Pierre answered seconds later to complete the scoring.
Despite the loss, Brunetti believes his team’s Open Cup experience will prepare them for a successful USL League Two season.
“I think this set a standard for all of us,” he said. “If we don’t meet that standard every game, from the coaching staff through to the last guy that we have in the team and the club’s equipment manager, there’s going to be disappointment. I think it’s going to give us a lot of hope, but also a lot of work to do to match the standard every time.”
The equalizer led to a pair of 15-minute extra time periods in which Rayados kept a tight defensive shape and sought to hold on to the deadlock and head into a penalty shootout. Little Rock had a few good chances, including a 115th minute curling effort from Ryan Blair which went just wide of the post, but ultimately failed to find the winning goal. Rayados goalkeeper Emmanuel Frias Ramirez saved Little Rock’s opening penalty from Trevor Reed, and Robel Dent sent the Rangers’ fourth penalty attempt wide to open up the opportunity for Fazio to win the shootout.