Tulsa Bested by Charlotte in Defensive Battle

​​Sports writer Victor Ratliff says TU goalkeeper Alex Lopez experienced nightmare fuel on the field.

The University of Tulsa Men’s Soccer team hosted the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers on Oct.18. It entered this game looking to continue its encouraging October, in which it had yet to take a loss and had secured a 1-0-2 record in the month however. However, the second ranked American Conference Charlotte squad was simply too much and Tulsa dropped their first game since September, 0-1.

The 49ers started the game aggressively, running its press defense with the goal to create tight passing windows and force as many Golden Hurricane mistakes as it could. It worked early, as Tulsa could not keep possession of the ball for long and Charlotte was able to put some early pressure on the box. After a few minutes of weak chances and lackluster attempts, the 49ers still had not found paydirt. It continued to try though, and Charlotte midfielder Luke Husakiwsky played an excellent ball to the far right end of Tulsa’s field to defender Ryan Dunn, who sent a slow roller into the box directly towards Tulsa goalkeeper Alex Lopez. And then, in a moment that will haunt him more than any scary movie or spooky season fright, Lopez took a bad angle, made an ill-advised dive, and let the ball tumble right past him to the foot of Charlotte forward Brigham Larsen, who tapped it into the open goal to put the 49ers up 1-0 on the lone score of the night. This early deficit brought back a familiar feeling to Golden Hurricane fans, as the team has been playing from behind for the majority of the season. And it appeared this game would be no different. But this Tulsa team showed a lot of fight, and quickly went on the offensive. It started to put pressure on Charlotte’s box, and instead of the strategy it had been using for the first part of the game of using precise passing to break apart the 49er’s defense, it pivoted to a more cross-centric offense, where it put the ball over Charlotte defenders heads and into the box, peppering it with crosses in the hopes that one would find its way home. However, due to the Charlotte defenders’ towering heights, especially the incredibly talented Daniel Moore, it was struggling to get a quality look in front of the goal. That struggle continued for the rest of the half, and Charlotte’s pesky defense was not helping either, as it was consistently intercepting passes and drawing fouls whenever it could find contact. In the rest of the half, TU amassed six shots on goal, notably a beautiful Gijs Hovius shot that was kept from the back of the net by an even more beautiful save by Charlotte Goalkeeper Leo Stritter. But despite this quality offensive pressure, Tulsa was still down 0-1 as it entered the half.

Charlotte came out of the lockers strong, immediately controlling possession in Tulsa’s half of the field. But Tulsa wasn’t going down without a fight, as after a few minutes of adjustment to Charlotte’s offensive strategy, the possession split was settled pretty equally. In the next twenty minutes, both sides would get quality chances, but none were more promising than when, with 28 minutes left in the game, Charlotte defender Alessandro Negri found himself in a one on one with Tulsa goalkeeper Alex Lopez. He had him dead to rights, and most shots he could have taken probably would have gone in. But he never got the chance, as Tulsa defender Kevin Thallinger made one of the hustle plays of the year to track down Negri and steal the ball away, saving Tulsa from a further deficit. Hurricane Soccer Stadium would get another scare a mere seven minutes later, as Brigham Larsen sent a good shot towards the goal, only to be blocked by Tulsa defender Luke Adams. However, the danger was not over yet as the ball made a dangerous bounce into the middle of the box and in front of the out of position Tulsa goalkeeper Lopez, where a Charlotte striker tapped it right at the goal. But because of how fast the ball was going when he hit it, the ball strayed from its projected course to narrowly miss the Tulsa goal. Both teams would continue to run their press defenses for the rest of the game, making offense incredibly hard to come by. A Tulsa striker would come closest to putting in the second score of the game, as he got a good looking chance in front of the goal. But in a rather physical play, he got tangled up with a Charlotte defender and took a dive inside the box. Much to the chagrin of the Tulsa players, coaches and Hurricane Soccer Stadium alike, no whistle was blown, and the ball tumbled harmlessly out of bounds for a goal kick. The players and coaches were furious and made their objections clear to the referees, so much so that a yellow card was shown not only to Tulsa defender Wes Bottenburg, but to the furious Tulsa Head Coach Tom McIntosh. This would be their last chance, as a few minutes later the night would hear its last whistle, leaving the score 1-0, Charlotte.

Tulsa’s loss was a bittersweet one, as it is never fun to lose a game. But it played valiantly in the face of the now 7-1-4 Charlotte 49ers, who were nationally ranked just a week beforehand, giving them a tough 90 minutes and proving this team may have more than its 2-8-3 record may imply. The Golden Hurricane will look to rebound next week on Oct. 26, where it will head to Florida to take on the 4-3-4 University of South Florida Bulls. It will then return to Hurricane Soccer Stadium to take on the 3-6-4 Temple Owls on Friday, Nov. 1.

Post Author: Victor Ratliff