USL FC Tulsa

Roughnecks Fall to Sacrmento Despite Goal from Mata

Published on June 26, 2015 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Tulsa News Release


The Tulsa Roughnecks returned home to ONEOK Field Thursday night for the first time in nearly a month and hosted Sacramento Republic. The 2014 USL Champs handed the Roughnecks a 3-1 defeat thanks to a brace from Rodrigo Lopez and another goal from Gilberto.

Tulsa resident Cristian Mata scored in his professional debut with the Roughnecks Saturday night. (Photo by Rich Crimi)

The loss spoiled a positive debut for Tulsa resident Cristian Mata who scored the lone goal for the Roughnecks in his professional debut.

Tulsa began the match on the attack and had a couple of chances to open the scoring in the early moments. In the third minute, Sammy Ochoa found himself open in front of the Sacramento goal, but his header on a cross from Brady Ballew slid just wide of the goal post.

Six minutes later, Ochoa was one-on-one with Sacramento goalkeeper Patrick McLain, but his shot went straight at the keeper to keep the match scoreless.

The misses proved costly ten minutes later when Gilberto struck for Sacramento. The Brazilian slotted home a cross to give the Republic a 1-0 lead.

After the goal, Sacramento continued with the pressure. Gilberto just missed a second goal in the 24th minute when his shot from outside the box rattled off the crossbar.

The pressure eventually did produce a second goal in the 37th minute. An unmarked Lopez ran onto a cross and slid his shot past Lubin and into the net to double the lead at 2-0.

After the halftime break, the Roughnecks produced their best spell of the match. Three minutes into the second half, Steven Miller struck the crossbar with a header after a quality cross from Iarfhlaith Davoren. Seconds later, Ballew's right-footed shot was deflected and rolled just wide of the far post.

In the 50th minute, head coach David Irving called on his newest signing as Mata, a Tulsa Union High School and University of Tulsa product, came on for Laurie Bell.

It did not take long for the debutant to make an impact. Only 22 minutes after coming on, Mata got behind the defense and took a perfectly waited pass from Lucas Cordeiro. The 21-year-old calmly slid the ball into the net to pull the Roughnecks to within one goal.

But, any hopes of a Tulsa comeback were quickly eliminated. Four minutes after Mata scored, Lopez struck for a second time. His perfectly placed free kick beat Lubin and gave Sacramento a 3-1 lead.

From there, the defending USL champs were able to kill off the game and record their fourth road win of the season.

It was a familiar storyline for the Roughnecks at ONEOK Field. They produced chances, but aside from Mata's goal were unable to find the back of the net.

Tulsa out-shot Sacramento 15-10 in the match and forced McLain to make seven saves.

The Roughnecks will not have long to dwell on the defeat. They will host Los Angeles Galaxy II Saturday night at ONEOK Field. Kickoff is slated for 7:30PM with a Fireworks Spectacular scheduled for after the game. Tickets are available.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 26, 2015


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