TULSA, Okla. (March 22, 2025) — North Carolina FC defeated FC Tulsa, 1-0, in Week 3 of the 2025 USL Championship season at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, Oklahoma. NCFC earned its first win of the season, taking home all three points in a tough cross-conference matchup. With the win, NCFC improved to 1-1-1 on the season.
Pedro Dolabella made his NCFC debut in the 57’ and made an immediate impact. In 33’ of action, the midfielder put up two shots while scoring the go-ahead goal in the 82’. The match also marked Dolabella’s 50th USL appearance.
The FC Tulsa attack was not quiet, putting up 17 shots, including 11 inside the box, but Jake McGuire stood strong and earned his first clean sheet of the 2025 season.
Quotes:
John Bradford: “Our entire group had the attitude we needed to get a quality win on the road and we certainly want to build on the performance.”
John Bradford: “The game was exactly what we anticipated it to be, a battle between two good teams that would come down to a few moments to make the difference.”
Pedro Dolabella: “It’s an amazing feeling to get our first win this year. We worked so hard during the week and it showed today, credit to the whole team and staff. I’m very happy to get my first goal for the club, hopefully the first of many. Step by step we will achieve our goals together.”
Jake McGuire: “It felt great to get our first win of the season. We played with a lot of passion on both sides of the ball on the night, and didn’t give them any real clear looks at scoring. It was a well-earned team shutout with solid defending from front to back all night.”
Match Notes:
- In the 12th minute of tonight’s match, Rafa Mentzingen recorded 10,000 USL minutes.
- Both Pedro Dolabella and Triston Hodge made their North Carolina FC debuts in the match.
Up Next:
North Carolina FC returns home for Week 4 of the USL Championship season, hosting Southern Derby rival Charleston Battery at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday, March 29, at 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are available here and the match will stream live on ESPN+.
NCFC (5-2-3): Jake McGuire; Paco Craig ©, Conor Donovan, Bryce Washington (Triston Hodge – 81’) , Rafa Mentzingen, Ezra Armstrong (Louis Perez – 57’); Raheem Somersall, Collin Martin (Mikey Maldonado – 57’); Rodrigo Da Costa (Adam Luckhurst – 88’), Evan Conway, Ahmad Al-Qaq (Pedro Dolabella – 57’)
Subs not used: Trevor Mulqueen, Justin Malou
TUL (3-4-3): Johan Peñaranda; Lamar Batista, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Arthur Rogers; Owen Damm, Giordano Colli, Boubacar Diallo (Marcos Cerato – 64’), Harvey St Clair; Kalil ElMedkhar (Edwin Laszo – 64’), Taylor Calheira, Stefan Stojanovic (Faysal Bettache – 45’)
Subs not used: Delentz Pierra, Patrick Seagrist, Stefa Lukic, Bryan Dowd
Score:
NCFC: 1
TUL: 0
Goals:
NCFC: – P. Dolabella – 82’
TUL: –
Cautions:
NCFC: – R. Somersall – 90’ + 2’
TUL: – B. Diallo – 53’
Ejections:
NCFC: –
TUL: –
