Half empty: FC Tulsa comeback rocks United

Forty-five good minutes of soccer came unraveled in a hurry for New Mexico United on Saturday night.

After leading USL Championship Western Conference-leading FC Tulsa 2-1 at halftime, United was blitzed for three goals in a 10-minute span and never recovered. Host Tulsa controlled the second half and rolled to a 5-2 victory at OneOK Field.

Two teams headed in different directions stayed on their recent paths as Tulsa extended its unbeaten streak to a franchise-record 12 games. New Mexico, meanwhile, was undone once again by turnovers and defensive miscues, dropping its fourth straight league game.

“Honestly, to have the first half that we did and lose 5-2 is really hard to swallow right now,” United coach Dennis Sanchez said. “We’re not capitalizing on big moments and when we make mistakes, we’re getting punished. This one is just hard to swallow.”

Greg Hurst and Ousman Jabang scored for New Mexico, which controlled the pace, the ball and outshot Tulsa 7-5 in the first half.

But the home team needed less than a minute to pull even after halftime and never looked back. Five players scored for quick-strike Tulsa, which got its transition attack rolling in the second half and finished with a 14-10 shot advantage.

The momentum turned on a poor United pass near midfield shortly after the second-half kicked off. United defender Talen Maples managed to block Kalil ElMedkhar’s shot inside the penalty area, but the rebound found Harvey St. Clair, who booted the ball home.

The quick goal energized Tulsa and seemed to put United back on its heels.

“Goals change games and that one came at a really unfortunate time,” Sanchez said. “Tulsa’s notorious for coming back and we knew they’d come out firing in the second half. Most of the goals we’ve been conceding have come on mistakes. including that one, and it really changed everything.”

As promised, Sanchez made several lineup changes for the game. Kris Shakes started in goal in place of usual starter Alex Tambakis and NMU employed Hurst, Valentin Noel and Gedion Zelalem up front in its 3-4-3 alignment.

The changes seemed to pay off in the first half, although Tulsa struck first on a Taylor Calheira penalty kick in the 18th minute. New Mexico responded quickly and narrowly missed getting even when a blast from Noel went just wide of the post.

Hurst later got the equalizer, stealing the ball from a pair of Tulsa defenders and chipping a left-footed shot over sprawling Tulsa goalkeeper Johan Penaranda in the 34th minute. It was Hurst’s fourth goal of the season but his first since March after spending more than three months on the injured list.

Jabang gave the visitors a 2-1 lead in the 41st minute, one-timing a bending shot from the top of the box into the upper left corner on a pass from Jaylin Lindsey.

But after leaving the field for halftime with momentum, United saw it quickly slip away in the second half. St. Clair’s tying goal was followed by a long open blast from Marcos Serrato that put Tulsa up 3-2 in the 51st minute.

ElMedkhar made it 4-2 three minutes later, getting behind the defense for a relatively easy put-away that allowed Tulsa to simply pack in its defense the rest of the way.

United struggled to find any openings as the game became increasingly physical. Tulsa finally scored a clincher in the 83rd minute when Alex Dalou’s transition shot deflected off Maples and bounded into the net in the 83rd minute.

United returns to Albuquerque to host Las Vegas Lights FC on Aug. 16 — its first home match since July 12. Sanchez said more changes could be in store as he looks to rediscover a winning formula.

“There were some positing moments tonight but it’s not good enough. We didn’t win,” he said. “The only way we’re going to get through this is to look in the mirror, learn from our mistakes and work to get better, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”