King Cabbage Brass Band Kicks Off the Night at 6 p.m.
TULSA – Interim head coach used the word “gritty” to define its 1-0 win over Indy Eleven on Saturday night after his side dominated the first half but were forced to wait until the 90’ minute to score the contest’s only goal. That grit will be tested once again on Wednesday night, as well as FC Tulsa’s attrition, as Hartford Athletic makes the 1,475-mile trip from Connecticut to take on the black and gold at ONEOK Field.
A win would make it three on the bounce for FC Tulsa and victories in four of its last five matches. Riding its strong defensive performances as of late, FC Tulsa has only conceded two goals over its last four outings. The reigning USL Championship Player of the Week, Austin Wormell, has been sensational over that same stretch, racking up 19 saves and two clean sheets en route to earning the league’s best save percentage at 80.6%.
Fans can expect to see a few familiar faces in the Hartford lineup, one that includes Mo Jadama who played with FC Tulsa last season as well as Ariel Martínez from Tulsa’s 2020 season. Vice versa, it will be a Hartford reunion for both Gabi Torres and Matheus Silva. Torres initially competed for Wednesday night’s visitors back in 2020 and was joined by Silva the following season in 2021.
The match is another chance for Tulsa to keep putting points on the board in the race for a USL Championship Playoffs spot against a club that has struggled as of late with only one win over its last nine matches. The two clubs have never met before but were scheduled to face off back in May. However, the match was postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak and rescheduled to take place on Wednesday (tickets for the originally scheduled match on May 21 will still be valid).
Off the back of the largest home crowd of the FC Tulsa era, ONEOK Field is the place to be on Wednesday night. The evening will feature a prematch concert from King Cabbage Brass Band, the second of three $1 Beer Nights this week, and a fireworks show following the match.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
SCOUTING HARTFORD ATHLETIC
After a loss at home to Miami FC on Saturday night, Hartford Athletic was jumped by Loudoun United FC (FC Tulsa’s next opponent) in the Eastern Conference standings while sliding down to 11th place in the process. Hartford has only managed five wins in 2022 while posting a 1W-7L-4D record on the road. Over its last nine outings, the club from Connecticut has just one win while being blanked three times, mustering a total of eight goals. Overall, Hartford is tied for the second-fewest goals scored over the course of the USL Championship season.
Midfielder Danny Berrera has had another spectacular campaign in his third season with Hartford, scoring two goals and creating 47 scoring chances, the ninth-best mark in the USL Championship. However, Hartford’s struggles in front of goal this season have only netted Barrera one assist. Joel Johnson leads the side with four goals in his inaugural year with Hartford after spending six seasons with Charlotte Independence.
THREE THINGS TO WATCH
1) Last Four
FC Tulsa earned all three points in three of its last four matches with wins over Birmingham Legion FC, Miami FC, and Indy Eleven. Over that four-match stretch, FC Tulsa scored five goals while holding the opposition to only two tallies, the fewest number of goals it has conceded in any four-match span this season. The two Tulsa clean sheets that it picked up along the way marked its fourth and fifth of the season.
2) Best in the League
Austin Wormell made another seven saves in FC Tulsa’s shutout win over Indy Eleven on Saturday, earning his fourth clean sheet of the season in 13 appearances. Wormell’s save percentage increased to 80.6%, the highest mark in the USL Championship. On the season, the Tulsa native has made 54 saves while only allowing 13 goals and has only lost once at home, posting a 3W-1L-2D record at ONEOK Field. Wormell was also named to the USL Championship’s Week 24 Team of the Week and was named the league’s Player of the Week for the first time in his two-year professional career on Tuesday.
3) Playoff Race
FC Tulsa did what it needed to do last weekend to keep itself in the playoff race with a win over Indy. Tulsa failed to shrink the margin between it and Miami FC who were victorious over Hartford last weekend, but did pick up three points on Detroit City FC who were blanked by Louisville City FC at home. FC Tulsa is the only club out of the three in action on Wednesday and its contest will put both Tulsa and Miami at 26 matches played while Detroit City will have played only 25.
HOW TO WATCH
As always, the best way to catch every FC Tulsa home match is with a ticket to witness all the action in person. If you can’t make it out, tune in locally to My41 Tulsa or stream all the action on ESPN+. Also, be sure to follow @FCTulsa on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for match updates, highlights, polls, and more!
