Sports writer Joe McCurdy summarizes Tulsa’s performance this season and their recent victory against Memphis
While not matching the results of last year’s 16-2-1season, Tulsa men’s soccer has quietly performed at a level that has gotten national recognition, both at the individual and collective level, with many Tulsa players gaining NCAA honors on top of consistently ranking in the top 25 eight of the last nine weeks.
Beginning the season as the favorites to win the American Athletic Conference for the second straight year and quite possibly return to the NCAA tournament, there was a lot to live up to for this 2022 Tulsa squad. In a season that saw the return of 21 rostered players from the previous championship-winning team including players like senior defenders Henry Sach, Mariano Fazio and Mitchell Cashion as well as the American Soccer Player of the Year in junior forward Alex Meinhard. Tulsa was ready to reload rather than rebuild.
The year started off on the wrong foot for the Golden Hurricane after a no-contest was called against Wisconsin due to weather in a match where the Badgers were up 3-0 going into the final 30 minutes. Winning their next two matches, Tulsa was faced with their biggest challenge of the season in a top 25 matchup at home versus the highly ranked Kentucky Wildcats. After a red card took Wes Bottenberg out of the match, Tulsa was forced to play a man down for the final 55 minutes. The Golden Hurricane was able to maintain the early 1-0 lead for the majority of the match but Kentucky was able to sneak one through, managing to force a tie. Tulsa proceeded to lose their next matchup against Florida International University in shutout fashion with a score of 0-3, but after winning their next two ranked matchups in Missouri State (3-0) and Charlotte (2-0), it looked like the Golden Hurricane had gotten back on track as they entered mid-season form.
That wasn’t the case, however, going 1-1-1 in their next three matches. It was clear that this wasn’t the same dominating squad from the previous year but that didn’t mean they couldn’t finish out the year strong and still reach for that conference repeat.
Their 3-0 win against Memphis this past Saturday saw the return of Alex Meinhard who had been struggling with a leg injury in the previous three matches. While not having a major impact on the outcome of the match, it was still nice to see him out on the pitch once again. With Meinhard out, Tulsa has truly embraced the “next man up” mentality as six separate Tulsa players have found the net in the absence of Meinhard. Junior forward Malik Henry Scott has had his breakthrough year working alongside Meinhard scoring five times on 23 shots on goal this season as he has proven himself to be an offensive threat in open space.
Currently sitting at 7-2-2 on the season, Tulsa is ranked number two overall at 3-2-1 in the AAC with SMU holding that coveted number one spot with a conference record of 5-2-0. With 3 matches remaining for the Golden Hurricane squad, there is still a lot to gain — their goals still within reach. Not only do they have a chance to end the season on a four match-winning streak, but they also have the opportunity to knock SMU off their pedestal when they play the Mustangs in Dallas to end the season. With the conference tournament right around the corner, everything is at stake for this Tulsa team, and it’s all decided in this next week and a half of matches.
