USL FC Tulsa

Roughnecks in Austin Saturday; Watch Party at Lefty's

Published on June 19, 2015 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Tulsa News Release


The Roughnecks return to action on Saturday with a return trip to Austin, Texas to face the Aztex. It will be the third and final matchup of the regular season between the two Western Conference sides. Austin posted a 2-0 win in the first meeting of the year on April 4 at ONEOK Field. The Roughnecks were victorious in their previous trip to the Texas capital city, gaining a 1-0 win on May 24.

The last match in Austin was supposed to be played on Saturday, May 23, but flooding rains forced the game to be delayed until the next morning. Later that night, additional rains flooded the House Park stadium, destroying the artificial surface field and forcing the Aztex to find a new home.

Saturday's match, and all other home matches this season for Austin, will now be played at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex. It is an 11,000 seat venue that serves as the home football and soccer stadium for several high schools in the Austin and Round Rock area.

Saturday's match will be broadcast live on Tulsa's Sports Radio AM 1300 with Jeremie Poplin calling the action. The broadcast can also be heard online at 1300TheBuzz.com. The Aztex YouTube channel will carry a video broadcast of the match.

WATCH PARTY AT LEFTY'S / ZACH LOYD JERSEY RAFFLE TO HELP AUSTIN FLOOD VICTIMS

The Roughnecks and the Roustabouts are hosting an official Watch Party for the match at Lefty's on Greenwood. Lefty's is located on the corner of Greenwood and Archer Avenues, across the street from ONEOK Field.

Festivities will begin at 7:00PM with Lefty's offering $2.50 Modelos and $4 Roughneck 83s. The Roustabouts will be raffling off a Zach Loyd autographed FC Dallas jersey. Tickets will be only $1 each with proceeds going to benefit those affected by the devastating floods that struck the Austin area last month.

ROUGHNECKS SQUAD

Tulsa will short-handed for Saturday's match. Due to injuries, Eli Galbraith-Knapp, Kidd Nwabueze and Brady Ballew did not make the trip to Austin. All three injuries are considered minor.

The Roughnecks should be boosted by the return of their leading scorer, Gibson Bardsley. Bardsley missed last week's match in Oklahoma City with a muscle strain, but he is expected to be in the starting eleven against the Aztex.

GRIMES RETURNS

Defender Mason Grimes is back with the club after duty with the Guam National Team. Grimes started and played all 90 minutes in both of Guam's historic wins in 2018 World Cup qualifying matches. Guam defeated Turkmenistan 1-0 on June 11 for its first-ever World Cup qualifying win. Five days later, Grimes and Guam topped India 2-1 to stay undefeated in Asia Group D action. The victories created headlines throughout world football as Guam has a population of 165,000 compared to 1.2 billion for India.

BUSY AZTEX

The match will actually be the third this week for the Aztex. On Sunday, Austin dropped a 3-1 decision in Portland to Timbers 2. On Wednesday, the Aztex travelled south to face MLS side Houston Dynamo in fourth round action in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Dynamo gained a 2-0 win at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium.

PERALES MISSING

Austin will be without the services of regular goalkeeper Devin Perales. Perales, who has the second-best save percentage in USL and the fifth best GAA, received a red card in the loss to Portland. He will likely be replaced by Cody Laurendi who has started five matches this season.

THE COACHES

Tulsa head coach David Irving was a player for the original Roughnecks in the old North America Soccer League. Irving scored three goals in seven appearances for Tulsa during the 1980 NASL season. His professional playing career also included stints with Everton FC and Sheffield United in England.

Paul Dalglish is the head coach for Austin. Paul is the son of legendary Liverpool player and coach Kenny Dalglish. During his playing career, he spent time with several English clubs including Newcastle United, Norwich City, Wigan Athletic and Blackpool.

LOCAL TIES

The Austin roster includes Bryce Taylor who is from Broken Arrow and Kalen Ryden who is from Norman. Ryden is actually on loan to the Aztex from the Columbus Crew of MLS. In addition, Tony Rocha is on the squad. Rocha played collegiately at the University of Tulsa before being drafted by Sporting KC in the MLS SuperDraft. He failed to find a spot for Kansas City and returned to Austin where he had played for the Aztex when the team was a member of the PDL.

Check out the FC Tulsa Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 19, 2015


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