Spanish Version

The Tulsa Roughnecks FC staged a big comeback Saturday night at ONEOK Field in a rematch with Reno 1868 FC, but a heartbreaking, late goal ended Tulsa’ five-match unbeaten run. After the Roughnecks overturned a two-goal first-half deficit, Reno found a late winner to record a 3-2 victory in downtown Tulsa.

It was the first loss for TRFC since June 27 after going unbeaten throughout the month of July. The defeat leaves the Roughnecks on 26 points with an 8-9-2 record and drops them into the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference standings. Tulsa does have two and three games in-hand on two of the three teams directly in front of it in the standings.

Reno improved to 33 points with a 9-5-6 record after the victory.

The first chance of the match fell to the Roughnecks in the 8th minute. Ian Svantesson slid through the Reno backline and found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Matt Bersano. Bersano came up big and smothered the shot to keep the match scoreless.

That changed in the 19th minute. Reno midfielder Luis Felipe Fernandes chipped a ball over Roughnecks defender Aaron Guillen and delivered a perfect layoff to Antoine Hoppenot in front of goal. Hoppenot was unmarked and easily slide his shot into the net to give Reno the early 1-0 lead.

Seven minutes later the lead doubled to 2-0. After a run down the left side, Chris Wehan set up USL career goals leader Dane Kelly in front of goal. The lethal Kelly left TRFC keeper Fabian Cerda with no chance as his right-footed shot blasted into the back of the net.

After the halftime break, that game turned as the Roughnecks came out on the attack, and Juan Pablo Caffa promptly pulled a goal back just seven minutes after the restart. After a foul was whistled just outside the left side of the penalty area, the Tulsa captain performed his magic, curving a left-footed shot into the upper corner, just inside the far post. It was Caffa’s sixth goal of the season, and three have come on free kicks.

TRFC kept pushing forward in search of an equalizer, and it came in the 67th minute. Caffa was left in space and his shot from five yards outside the box forced a diving save from Reno keeper Matt Bersano. Bersano was unable to hold onto the shot, and an onrushing Ian Svantesson slid and rolled his shot into the net to level the score at 2-2. It was the team-leading ninth goal of the season for the big striker.