5/10/25
FC Bartlesville - Tulsa Athletic 5:0
Buffaloes took a short trip to Tulsa for the seventh round of the UPSL 2025 spring season, where they faced a strong Tulsa Athletic side.
FC Bartlesville was coming into this match with a lot of confidence following last week's home game and the 8-0 victory over FC Comets. Right before the kick-off, we chatted with the head coach and team captain, Luka Milicevic and Ivan Ristic. "We love playing Tulsa Athletic - it is a team with a strong history and well-known players. Today should be a great day for soccer", added the coach. "We had a very strong game here in the preseason and barely lost 2:1. We felt we deserved more, and we are ready to prove that today", said the captain.
Fairly quickly into the game, Julian Tovar had a chance to score after a very good header that went inches away from the left post. An aggressive start indicated that it could be a very good game for the Buffaloes.
It was the 8th minute of the first half when the Buffaloes struck first. Brandon O'Rourke provided an assist from a set-piece taken on the right side. O'Rourke drove the ball on the ground for Luka Milicevic, who managed to put the ball in the net with a first-time strike.
45 seconds later, the lead was extended to 2-0 after Julian Tovar intercepted the back pass from Tulsa's defender to the goalkeeper. Tovar was very calm and placed the ball into an empty goal. Tovar scored his second goal this year.
Milicevic, O'Rourke, and Tovar all had multiple opportunities to extend the lead before the first half ended, but the result remained 2-0 after the first 45 minutes.
"We had mixed feelings about the first half. We were up and had control of every second of that half. Consciously, you understand that at that point it already should've been 3:0 or 4:0 in our favor, so feeling a little disappointed wasn't totally unreasonable. However, we needed to send a message of confidence to our team and praise the overall performance, urging the team to continue with the same intensity.
Second half began the same way as the first ended, with plenty of opportunities for the Buffaloes to extend their lead. But it wasn't until the 63rd minute that they did so. The cross came from the left side by Cristobal Goldberg, the ball deflected from Julian Tovar's shoulder right in front of Brandon O'Rourke who took a powerful shot past the Tulsa goalkeeper.
FC Bartlesville was awarded 2 penalty kicks in a span of 10 minutes. Erik Hjertsson took the first one and shot inches wide. However, Tyler Guerrero made sure his ball ended in the net to make the score 4:0
The last goal of the match was scored by Aidan de Gannes in the 85th minute of the game. Brandon O'Rourke had an incredible through pass that was intended originally for Hjertsson, who flicked the ball to de Gannes. Aidan fired a shot from the edge of the box to change the scoreboard one last time to 5-0.
"I am especially happy for Aidan, who flew in yesterday, 20 minutes before practice, had a full practice, and played 40 minutes today. He will be a phenomenal addition to our club this summer", said coach Milicevic.
The Buffaloes will have a weekend off and will return to the field on Saturday, May 24th, when they will travel to Joplin to face FC Comets.
photo credits: Jamie Copenhaver (@jamiecopenhaver_photography)