Spanish Version

Saturday night was a special evening in the storied history of professional soccer in the city of Tulsa, and the Tulsa Roughnecks rose to the occasion. Phoenix Rising FC came to ONEOK Field with international stars Didier Drogba, Omar Bravo and Shaun Wright-Phillips, but it was Roughnecks FC who thrilled the home crowd with a 3-0 victory.



Front Page Photo by Lori Scholl



The Roughnecks got goals from Ian Svantesson, Jacori Hayes and debutant Christian Thierjung, and a shutout performance from goalkeeper Fabian Cerda and his backline to record the win. The victory came before a season-best crowd of 5,647 at ONEOK Field.

The two teams entered the match level on points, but TRFC maintained its playoff spot in the USL’s Western Conference standings, improving its point total to 25 with an 8-8-1 record. The Rising remained on 22 points as their record fell to 6-6-4 with the loss. With the win, Tulsa climbed to fifth spot in the Western Conference table.

It took the Roughnecks just a quarter of an hour to take the lead, and it came in a familiar fashion. Juan Pablo Caffa delivered a near-perfect corner kick cross that was headed into the net by Svantesson. It was the team-leading eighth goal of the season for the big striker and the team-leading fifth assist for the TRFC captain.

Drogba nearly leveled the score with his best chance of the match in the 20th minute. After a handball was whistled at the top of the box, the former Chelsea FC striker curled a free kick over the wall that appeared destined for the lower corner of the net, but Cerda made a diving save to keep the TRFC lead intact.

Hayes gave the Roughnecks a 2-0 lead with his first USL goal in the 44th minute. Paris Gee got free on the right wing and sent a cross into the box, and it deflected off a defender and to and unmarked Hayes. The Dallas F.C. loanee beat goalkeeper Josh Cohen to the ball and poked a right-footed shot into the net.