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USL FC Tulsa

FC Tulsa Wins 2-1 Over Charleston Battery

June 25, 2022 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Tulsa News Release


TULSA - On a blistering summer evening in Tulsa with temperatures touching triple digits, the weather was not the only thing heating up at ONEOK Field. The FC Tulsa offense roared to life, headlined by a JJ Williams first-half brace, and ended its scoreless streak while securing all three points in Donovan Ricketts' first home match after being named the club's interim head coach nine days ago.

It took the Tulsa attack all of 17 minutes to open the scoring on Saturday night, courtesy of forward JJ Williams' sixth tally of the season. Bradley Bourgeois earned his first assist of the season on the very night the Tulsa captain was presented with a "Bourgeois 10k" jersey prior to the match, celebrating Bourgeois reaching 10,000 career USL Championship minute mark on June 2. A lurking Williams connected with Bourgeois' delivery from the left corner, slotting it home to give Tulsa the early 1-0 lead.

However, Williams was not content with just one goal. The 6'3'' forward connected on a free kick sent in courtesy of the King of FC Tulsa Assists, Rodrigo da Costa, heading the ball past the Charleston Battery keeper to secure Williams' second brace of the 2022 season just 17 minutes after his first goal of the match. Williams and da Costa came into Saturday night tied for the club lead with five goals each, a stat that Williams now holds sole possession of with seven scores.

Charleston was able to get one back right in the first minute of first-half stoppage as Mauro Cichero found a pocket of space on the left side of the Tulsa defense, cementing the halftime score at 2-1 in favor of the good guys. Cichero's goal marked only the fourth time all season that FC Tulsa goalkeeper Austin Wormell conceded a goal.

That was all the offense the Battery would muster as FC Tulsa dropped numbers back in the second half to protect its lead. Despite controlling possession in the final third for what felt like an eternity to FC Tulsa fans near the end of the match, Charleston was held to only four total shots in the second half, none of which were on target.

FC Tulsa moves to 5W-2L-2D at ONEOK Field in 2022 while Donovan Ricketts is now perfect in front of the home crowd as the interim head coach.

Attached are Final Stats and Postmatch Quotes from interim head coach Donovan Ricketts, forward JJ Williams, and defender Bradley Bourgeois.

HIGHLIGHTS

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MZhgefbjtpb_cZeaML8pcm-vZdgleGhW?usp=sharing

GOALS

17' TUL - JJ Williams (Bradley Bourgeois)

34' TUL - JJ Williams (Rodrigo da Costa)

45+1' CHS - Romario Piggott (Mauro Cichero)

SCORELESS STREAK SNAPPED

FC Tulsa came into Saturday night's match scoreless in its last 277 minutes. While the streak did continue for another 17 minutes, JJ Williams was able to snap what finished as the fifth-longest streak in club history. The win was also the club's first since May 7, a 3-1 win over Detroit City 49 days ago.

BRACE YOURSELVES - JJ DID IT AGAIN

Forward JJ Williams netted two goals in the span of 34 minutes on Saturday, his second brace in his first season with FC Tulsa. In total, Williams has bagged a brace three times in his career, the first coming back in 2019 as a member of Birmingham Legion FC. Williams now leads FC Tulsa in both goals (7) and shots (37) in 2022.

STILL WINNIN' AT ONEOK

Another match at ONEOK Field typically means another notch in the win column for FC Tulsa, and this one was no different. Tulsa has taken points away from seven of its nine matches at home with a 5W-2L-2D record and a goal differential of +4 in 2022.

UP NEXT

FC Tulsa hits the road once again to take on Western Conference foe San Antonio FC for a rare Tuesday night match. Tulsa traveled to take on San Antonio at Toyota Field once in 2021 and the two sides split the points one apiece. The match will ONLY be streamed on ESPN2 and is slated to kick off at 8 p.m. CT.

Check out the FC Tulsa Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 25, 2022


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