Little Rock Rangers Fall to Tulsa Athletic 2-1

By Little Rock Rangers

Goals by Gustavo Vargas and Alex Harris propelled the Heartland Conference leading Tulsa
Athletic to a 2-1 win over Little Rock Rangers at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock Saturday
evening.

Multiple chances on corners failed to connect and a missed penalty kick in minute 57 that was
saved by Tulsa goalkeeper Bryson Reed of off the foot of Andy Stewart all added up to a
frustrating evening in the capital city for Rangers.

“We did not execute in order to get a shot on goal,” Rangers manager Will Montgomery said
after the loss. “Either the service into the box was not good enough or the connection head
towards the goal was not good enough. We had multiple chances. It was really frustrating.
Bottom line was that we did not execute effectively on set pieces and had a missed opportunity
with the penalty kick.”

During the first 20 minutes of the match Rangers had difficulty stringing passes together through
the midfield to establish any kind of possession control. Long passes on the turf at War
Memorial offers spin and awkward bounces that are tough to control.

“That first 20 minutes, instead of us being comfortable with receiving the ball at their feet we
were trying to go over the top,” Montgomery added. “That’s not conducive in this stadium or this field. Because it’s not wide enough and it’s turf. If you kick the ball straight, it just continues to
roll. So, we had to get you have time to make the adjustments to let remind them that they have
the skill and the technical ability to come down and play our game, which is possession.”

The second half opened with a Stags flurry as the adjustments were put into motion. A quick
shot by Alex Guadron followed by two corner kicks offered promise for the home side. Then the
air was temporarily sucked out of the stadium as Reed stopped Stewart’s penalty shot and then
quickly snuffed out the rebound.

Rangers pulled to within one goal at 2-1 in the 83 rd minute as Donald Benamna took a long pass
from midfield, settled the ball with his left, and fired a rocket with his right foot that raced past
Reed.

“Great goal,” Montgomery concluded. “The ball was down the right side and he initiated the run.
It was a good option. We sent the ball back, then played it forward and it connected really well.
He brought it down and scored a great goal. He’s (Donald) one of those special players that we
have each game that can potentially get a goal or can create opportunities for his teammates
inside the attacking half. That was a great effort. We didn’t quit. It was just a very frustrating
night.”

Rangers had an opportunity to pull ahead of Tulsa into first place in Heartland standings with a
win but instead fall to 3-3-0 in conference play holding with nine points while Tulsa increases
their lead in the top spot remaining unbeaten on the season.

Next up for Little Rock is another opportunity at War Memorial as the host Club Atletico Saint
Louis next Saturday evening with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Gonzalez