Sports stats



USL FC Tulsa

FC Tulsa Acquires Former Houston Dynamo Goalkeeper Michael Nelson Via MLS Loan

March 3, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Tulsa News Release


TULSA - A third goalkeeper is Tulsa bound by way of MLS loan for the 2023 season. FC Tulsa has acquired the 20th overall pick from the 2018 MLS SuperDraft and former Houston Dynamo man Michael Nelson for the entirety of the upcoming campaign, pending league and federation approval.

"Michael is an experienced goalkeeper with exceptional shot stopping ability and a desire to compete," said FC Tulsa head coach Blair Gavin. "These attributes will help our team continue to grow in the right direction."

A native of Katy, Texas, Nelson drew MLS attention after capping his dazzling four-year collegiate career at Southern Methodist University with a redshirt senior season in which he posted an 84% save pct. and a 17W-3L-1D record. After earning United Soccer Coaches All-East Region First Team All-American and First Team All-AAC honors, being named the AAC's Goalkeeper of the Year, and three AAC Goalkeeper of the Week awards, the Dynamo selected Nelson with the 20th overall pick in that year's draft.

From 2018 to 2022, Nelson appeared 18 times across all competitions for Houston's MLS side amid three separate loan spells to the club's affiliates. The keeper made 11 MLS league appearances for the Dynamo in 2021 where Nelson logged two clean sheets for an ever-changing and rebuilding Dynamo squad. He appeared twice more for the senior squad where he made eight total saves in 2022.

Nelson also garnered five U.S. Open Cup appearances during his time in Houston, one of which came in 2018 during the Dynamo's championship title run.

"FC Tulsa has a positive reputation for its competitive culture as well as having good people throughout the organization which is important to me, and players I spoke with during the process had nothing but good things to say about the setup here," said Nelson. "From what I've seen of Blair in this first week, he's a very proactive and forward-thinking coach who wants to control and dictate games - those are the type of teams you want to be a part of and the type of ideas that are exciting to get behind as a player."

No stranger to the USL Championship, Nelson was loaned to Rio Grande Valley FC, the Dynamo's USL Championship affiliate at the time, for brief stints during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In 15 appearances across both loan spells, Nelson saved 72% of his shots faced and kept his sheet clean on four occasions.

Nelson also made three regular season appearances for Houston Dynamo 2 in MLS NEXT Pro play last season, then was in net for all 120 minutes of the club's Western Conference Semifinal vs. Tacoma Defiance.

FC Tulsa 2023 Roster:

Goalkeepers: Michael Nelson, Dallas Odle, Austin Wormell

Defenders: Angel Bernal, Bradley Bourgeois, Chase Bromstedt, Jorge Corrales, Brett Levis, Justin Malou, Ruxi

Midfielders: Eric Bird, Rodrigo da Costa, Collin Fernandez, Blaine Ferri, Renan Mendoza, Christopher Pearson, Luca Sowinski

Forwards: Moses Dyer, Marcus Epps, Siad Haji, Watz Leazard, Darío Suárez, Milo Yosef

Check out the FC Tulsa Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

United Soccer League Championship Stories from March 3, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central