In the first half of the men’s game, the two teams each tried to control the tempo of the game, resulting in a lot of back-and-forth play. Each team created some chances, but couldn’t push through. The half ended with the game knotted in a scoreless draw.
In the second half, the Zips got on the scoreboard first, as an attacker found some open space to head in a goal off of a free kick. Tulsa was still having trouble converting on their offensive opportunities. Late in the game, Matt Puig subbed in. With five minutes left in the game, he beat a defender and drew a foul in the goal-box to earn a penalty kick. Ray Saari took the shot, and scored to tie the game at 1–1.
Then, the referee decided to take the game into his own hands. Each team continued to try and create chances to take the lead. During one Akron push, the Zips played the ball through to a man in front of the goal, and he slotted the ball home. What was missing from this play, though, was the whistle from the ref, as the Akron player was clearly a few yards offside on the play. However, the call wasn’t made, and the goal counted.
Only two minutes remained in the game after the Akron goal, Tulsa was trying to push forwards to get an equalizer. Additionally, the game had gotten chippy throughout the second half, as each team fouled the other on some risky challenges. The referee has set the standard for these offences with yellow cards shown to four players. Each of those yellow cards was shown to an Akron player. Then, on a risky Tulsa challenge, the official decided to go directly to a red card, skipping the yellow card. Playing the remainder of the game a man down, the Golden Hurricane couldn’t find an equalizing goal, and fell 2–1.
The Golden Hurricane now sit at a 2–2–2 record this season. Their next match is against Santa Clara on Sept 19 at 7 p.m.
On the women’s side
After a tough set of games in the Tulsa Classic, the Golden Hurricane women’s soccer team bounced back against Oral Roberts.
In the first half, each team struggled to find a rhythm, which resulted in a scoreless first half.
In the second half, Tulsa started to take over. Shortly after play resumed, Tana Dake took a free kick, sending the ball into the middle. Annabeth Fouts got free to head the ball in, opening the scoring in favor of the Golden Hurricane.
From there, Tulsa didn’t let up, as Rachel Thun and Alzbeta Chlumova added goals, solidifying the win at 3–0.
The victory game the Golden Hurricane the Spectrum Cup, the trophy awarded to the winner of this crosstown derby each year.
Tulsa now has a 4–4–1 record on the year. Their next game is against Ole Miss, a home game on Sept 18 at 7 p.m.
