FC Tulsa hosts Colorado Springs in key Western Conference showdown

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC left ONEOK Field with a 2-1 win on June 20, spoiling FC Tulsa’s chance to turn a tight homestand into a statement against the defending Western Conference champions. Tulsa had taken the lead through Remi Cabral’s stoppage-time goal in first-half added time, but Juan Tejada answered in the 55th minute and then set up Jonas Fjeldberg’s winner five minutes later to flip the match in a hurry.

Tulsa entered the matchup third in the West, two points off first place with a game in hand, and had just beaten Monterey Bay FC 2-0 on June 17. Logan Dorsey scored his first goal in a Tulsa shirt in his first start, and Lamar Batista headed in a Jamie Webber free kick. Alex Tambakis finished that night with his 62nd USL Championship shutout, a mark that tied him with Sacramento Republic FC’s Danny Vitiello for the league’s regular-season clean sheet record before Colorado Springs arrived.

The Switchbacks game also brought three long-absent starters back into the lineup. Abdoulaye Cissoko, Delentz Pierre and Kalil ElMedkhar all returned from injury and made their first starts in nearly two months.

Colorado Springs won the 2024 USL Championship Final 3-0 over Rhode Island FC to claim its first league title, while Tulsa won the 2025 Western Conference title with a 3-0 playoff victory over New Mexico United in front of a club-record crowd of 9,180 at ONEOK Field. The teams met in Tulsa as the previous two Western Conference title winners.

Tulsa’s June 23 Team of the Week recognition went to Webber and Batista. Webber’s free-kick assist to Batista was his third straight match with an assist across all competitions, while Batista finished the week with 13 clearances and 11 duels won. Webber completed 59 of 69 passes and added 11 combined tackles across Tulsa’s two matches that week. The loss left FC Tulsa at 5-4-4 in league play and 3-2-2 at home.