Rio Grande Valley FC picked up its second straight win with a 2-1 road victory against Tulsa Roughnecks FC on Saturday night at ONEOK Field.
The home side nearly took the lead in the 34th minute of play when Eti Tavares’ cross found Paris Gee, but the midfielder’s header sailed over Michael Nelson’s goal. The Roughnecks continued to apply the pressure and forced a save out of Nelson seven minutes later as Nemanja Vukovic tried a left-footed shot from outside of the penalty area that the goalkeeper had to corral but it was RGVFC that would open the scoring six minutes after halftime.
Todd Wharton’s out-swinging corner kick delivery found Nicolas Perea at the near post and the midfielder was able to head home from a difficult angle to get his side on the board first. Things got better for the visitors two minutes later as Carlos Small’s right-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area avoided a defender on its way into an essentially empty net after Tulsa goalkeeper Fabian Cerda had come out to claim a through pass but Small got to it first.
The Roughnecks cut the lead to 2-1 in the 60th minute on a well-worked passing move that saw Michael Gamble square the ball across the goal for Joaquin Rivas to tap in at the far post. Rivas tested Nelson again five minutes later with a right-footed shot from the center of the box but the goalkeeper was equal to it.
Small had a chance to seal the points for the visitors three minutes from time but his right-footed effort was stopped by Cerda, but two goals proved to be enough for RGVFC as Nelson shut the door on Adriano Jusino late in stoppage time to protect the 2-1 victory.
