Tulsa Athletic Defeats Saint Louis Club Atletico 2-1

Saint Louis and Tulsa met for the second time in the 2018 season this afternoon to decide who will hold the advantage for second in the Heartland Conference.

In the scorching Tulsa heat, the two sides battled until exhaustion but it would be the home team to claim all three points.

Saint Louis Club Atletico scored in the first minute of the match when Brayan Lopez broke into space and slipped a ball to Pandelis Popgeorgiev, who slotted it past Austin Wormell.  It was a 1-0 lead for St. Louis.

Tulsa had the majority of possession but could not find the equalizer until midway through the first half.  Captain Jake Schmoker sent in a beautiful corner and defender Gustavo Vargas rose up to bury it home to bring the score to 1-1.

Throughout the rest of the match, Tulsa held most of the ball while St. Louis tried to counter quickly.  While it looked like Athletic would find the go-ahead goal, St. Louis goalkeeper Nate Himes stood on his head no less than three times to keep the ball out of the net.

The break came late in the match with 15 minutes left.  Substitute Adam Habib picked the ball off a St. Louis center back off a goal kick.  Habib took a touch and hit a shot.  Himes was up for the challenge and made the initial save, but Habib raced for the rebound and headed it in on the line to give Tulsa the 2-1 lead.

The win snapped a three-game winless streak for Tulsa Athletic and secured sole possession of second place.

Contributor: Tulsa Athletic
Photo Credit: Lori Scholl