TULSA, Okla. – Jesse
Roque (El Paso, Texas) put Oral Roberts University up 2-0
in the first 21 minutes, but Tulsa scored four unanswered goals en
route to a 4-2 defeat of the Golden Eagles in front of a home crowd
of 837 on Tuesday night at the ORU Soccer Complex.
Roque scored his first goal of the
match at the 15:12 mark. Teammate Miguel Peralta
(Tulsa, Okla.) crossed the ball into Tulsa's side of the field, but
the ball was misplayed by a TU defender and found the foot of
Roque. Roque's shot got past the outstretched arms of TU's
goalkeeper Tyrel Lacey for the 1-0 lead.
ORU (4-7-3) rode the momentum of
the home crowd with a second tally just 5:13 after Roque's first.
The junior midfielder scored his second goal on a wonderfully
placed cross from Peralta. Peralta was on the far side of the field
and his cross found Roque who was streaking to the near post. TU's
Lacey had no chance as Roque chipped the ball in for the quick two
goal lead.
The Golden Hurricane did not hang
their heads after a quick start from ORU. TU's Hunter Christiansen
got his first tally of the year to cut the deficit in half.
Christiansen charged the net and his ball found the back of the
net. Teammates Joe Salem and Matt Thomas were credited with the
helpers. The goal came at the 27:11 mark.
TU tied the match in the 35th
minute when a TU forward was fouled by an ORU defender in the box.
The foul resulted in a penalty kick and TU's Jose Parada's ball
found the left side of the net as ORU's keeper Carlos
Veron (St. Asuncion, Paraguay) guessed wrong.
TU did not back down from there as
they went into halftime with a 3-2 edge. TU's Eric Burkholder
streaked down the field, taking the ball from the half way line.
Burkholder's speed carried him past two ORU's defenders and his
ball slipped by Veron for his fourth tally of the season.
The Golden Hurricane finished off
the scoring for the night as Todd Goddard scored at the 61:03 mark.
Eric Defreitas got the assist on Goddard's goal.
ORU went down a man in the 78th
minute when Gary Duran (Santa Cruz, Bolivia)
received a red card on a hard take down of a TU player.
There were a total of six cards in
the match, with TU getting three yellow cards. Tulsa held a slim
18-16 advantage in shots and an 8-1 edge in corner kicks.
Roque led the Golden Eagles with
four shots, while Duran and Juan Chang (Guatemala
City, Guatemala) had three a piece.
TU improved to 6-8-0 on the
year.
ORU returns to Mid-Con conference
play on Saturday, hosting Centenary at a 7 p.m. start time.
-ORU-
