Monterey Bay Undone by Second-Half Comeback in Tulsa
TULSA, Oklahoma (Wednesday, July 16, 2025) – Monterey Bay FC (6-8-4, 22 points) fell 2-1 to Western Conference side FC Tulsa (8-3-4, 28 points) in a midweek match at ONEOK Field. Grant Robinson added his second assist in as many matches, finding Mayele Malango on the end of a long ball for his fourth goal of the season and the early lead, but back-to-back goals by FC Tulsa to start the second half made the difference in the match.
Monterey Bay broke out on the counter just four minutes into the match with a give and go between Luke Ivanovic and Anton Søjberg, but Søjberg’s shot was caught by FC Tulsa goalkeeper Johan Penaranda. Following a corner well defended in the 9th minute, Robinson booted a long ball over the top of the defense to play Malango in behind down the left sideline. With Penaranda caught in between thoughts, Malango calmly struck the ball between the keeper’s legs and into the back of the net to give Monterey Bay the early 1-0 lead. FC Tulsa came close to scoring with a flick across the goal in the 17th minute, but Joel Garcia Jr. was there to clear it off the line. In the 31st minute, Robinson whipped another dangerous ball into the box, but Ivanovic was unable to get a touch on it. Ivanovic flew beyond Tulsa’s back line in the 44th minute on a long ball from Søjberg, but his shot missed to the right and the first half ended with Monterey Bay out in front.
FC Tulsa struck back quickly with back-to-back goals to start the second half. Boubacar Diallo buried a header on the end of a corner kick in the 47th minute. And then less than a minute later, Stefan Lukic took advantage of a spilled save by Sam Gomez and roofed the ball into the net from close range to give FC Tulsa the 2-1 lead in the blink of an eye. Looking to claw their way back in, Monterey Bay earned a corner in the 60th minute. The ball in from Adrian Rebollar found the head of Nico Gordon, but his attempt was denied by the right post. Four minutes later, Malango drove the ball down the left side before flashing the ball across the six yard box, but it missed Adam Larsson and Ivanovic on its way over the end line. Monterey Bay desperately whipped a long ball ahead in the 5th minute of stoppage time towards defender-turned-striker Gordon, but his header was caught by the goalkeeper. Then in the dying moments of the match, FC Tulsa took advantage of the visitors pushing everyone forward in the 8th added minute, but Carlos Guzman slid in to thwart a should-be shot on target, ending the match at 2-1 in favor of FC Tulsa.
Up Next
Monterey Bay wraps up the group stage of the 2025 USL Jägermeister Cup with an in-state road trip to Lancaster for what could be a thrilling contest against former Monterey Bay FC defender Walmer Martínez and his USL League One side AV Alta FC on Saturday, July 26. Kickoff from Lancaster Municipal Stadium is set for 8:00 p.m. PT, with live streaming available on ESPN+.
Additional Notes
- Missing the match due to injury were Nico Campuzano (lower body), Pierce Gallaway (upper body), and Ilijah Paul (lower body).
Information
Date: July 16, 2025
Venue: ONEOK Field; Tulsa, Oklahoma
Weather: Partly cloudy and 86°F
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
FC Tulsa 0 2 2
Monterey Bay FC 1 0 1
MB: Mayele Malango (Grant Robinson) 9’
TUL: Boubacar Diallo (Jamie Webber) 47’
TUL: Stefan Lukic 48’
Lineups
FC Tulsa (3-4-3): Johan Penaranda; Delentz Pierre, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Arthur Rogers (Harvey St. Clair, 45’); Owen Damm (Stefan Lukic, 45’) (Eliot Goldthorp, 86’), Lucas Stauffer, Marcos Serrato, Boubacar Diallo; Taylor Calheira, Kalil ElMedkhar (Alex Dalou, 75’), Jamie Webber (Giordano Colli, 75’)
Subs not used: Cole Johnson, Anthony Harper, Patrick Seagrist
Monterey Bay FC (4-2-3-1): Sam Gomez; Grant Robinson, Nico Gordon, Jacob Muir (Carlos Guzmán, 45’), Joel Garcia Jr.; Wesley Fonguck (Xavi Gnaulati, 68’), Mobi Fehr; Mayele Malango (Diego Gutiérrez, 69’), Adrian Rebollar, Anton Søjberg (Adam Larsson, 45’); Luke Ivanovic
Subs not used: Dallas Odle, Alex Lara, Sami Guediri
Stats Summary: MB / OC
Shots: 14 / 15
Shots on Goal: 5 / 2
Saves: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 7 / 8
Fouls: 14 / 11
Possession: 57.8% / 42.2%
Misconduct Summary
TUL: Abdoulaye Cissoko (caution) 14’
TUL: Stefan Lukic (caution) 68’
TUL: Harvey St. Clair (caution) 70’
TUL: Johan Penaranda (caution) 90+4’
Officials
Referee: Edson Carvajal
Assistant Referee: Matt Trotter
Assistant Referee: Ricardo Ocampo
Fourth Official: Tim Wagner
