Men's Soccer to Face FAU in American Championship Semifinal

Wednesday, November 12

Charlotte, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Tulsa

(2) Florida Atlantic

Joao Neves vs USF American First Round 25

Photo by: Sami Reilly

Men's Soccer to Face FAU in American Championship Semifinal

11/11/2025 11:10:00 AM | Men's Soccer

GAME 18:
Tulsa (5-8-4) vs. Florida Atlantic (10-3-2)
2:30 p.m. CT - Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025
Charlotte Soccer Stadium • Charlotte, N.C.
American Men's Soccer Championship Semifinal

LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
TV: ESPN+
GAME NOTES: Tulsa

THE COACHES:
Tulsa: Tom McIntosh (Tulsa, 1988), 31^st year
Career Record: 298-218-67
School Record: Same

Florida Atlantic: Joey Worthen (South Carolina, '13), 9^th year
Career Record: 53-72-17
School Record: Same

Tips on the Florida Atlantic Owls

The six-seed Tulsa Golden Hurricane will travel to Charlotte, N.C., to face off with the two-seed FAU Owls in American Men's Soccer Championship semifinal on Nov. 12 at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Tulsa leads the all-time series record between the teams 4-0-1, having never fallen to the Owls since they first faced each other in 2013.
Florida Atlantic is 10-3-2 entering the match. Their conference record earned them a bye through the first round of the American Championship.
Their last match was against Tulsa, a 0-0 draw that earned them a portion of the American Conference regular season title.

Last Time Out: Men's Soccer Advances to American Championship Semifinals Off Overtime Win

The University of Tulsa defeated the University of South Florida in the first round of the American Conference Championship 3-2 on Thursday at Corbett Soccer Stadium, with Tulsa scoring the decisive goal in overtime. The win means Tulsa will make their first appearance in the conference tournament semifinals since the 2021 season.
The match began with the Golden Hurricane taking an early lead in the 22nd minute when Gyuwon Chong scored his second goal of the season, assisted by Jared Aguilar. Interestingly, Chong's first goal of the season also came against South Florida in Tulsa's 2-1 loss to them in the regular season.
The Bulls responded quickly, equalizing in the 26th minute with a goal from Jakob Auby, assisted by Fabio Bozesan and João Belmudes. The home team then took the lead in the 32nd minute, thanks to Tyler Richardson's goal, with assists from Brandon Nyagurungo and Asher Jones.
The visitors equalized the match in the 53rd minute with a goal from Alex Cunningham, assisted by Nils Orywol. This marked Cunningham's second goal of the season, while it was Orywol's third assist of the year. Despite late efforts from both teams, the match ended in a 2-2 draw at the end of the second half.
Tulsa secured a dramatic victory in overtime with a goal from Arnau Pedrola Fortuny in the 91st minute. This was Pedrola Fortuny's first goal of the season.

American and National Rankings

The Golden Hurricane is second in the American in shot accuracy (0.465), shots on goal per game (5.06) and shutout percentage (0.412). Tulsa also ranks third in save percentage (0.714).
Carlito Saylon has the most shutouts (7) in the American Conference and ranks second in total saves (46).
Jared Aguilar ranks fourth in the conference in total assists (5).

Adams Named American Defensive Player of the Year, Aguilar and Stevens Earn All-Conference Selections

The American Conference announced its men's soccer postseason honors on Thursday, with redshirt sophomore Luke Adams earning Defensive Player of the Year and a spot on the All-Conference First Team. Jared Aguilar was named to the All-Conference Second Team, while Danny Stevens earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
Adams, a McKinney, Texas native, becomes the fourth Tulsa player to be named the American's Defensive Player of the Year. He started 11 games this season, contributing to five shutouts along the way. Adams also netted the game-winner at Temple, the lone goal of that match, to secure three key points in conference play. His leadership in the backfield helped the Golden Hurricane limit opponents to just 18 total goals this season.

Carlito Saylon Secures Goalkeeper of the Week Honors

Sophomore Carlito Saylon earned the final American Goalkeeper of the Week honor of the season on Nov. 3, following his shutouts of Missouri State and FAU.
Saylon, a native of Brighton, Mich., recorded 10 saves on 28 shots faced across both matches to earn the award. His seven saves against FAU were instrumental in preserving the draw and securing another point in conference play for Tulsa. With two more shutouts added to his total, Saylon now leads the American with seven on the season. His strong performances helped the Golden Hurricane clinch a spot in the American Men's Soccer Championship.

Jared Aguilar on Fire

Redshirt sophmore Jared Aguilar has recorded four points in the last two games, earning back-to-back American Player of the Week honorable mentions, following an assist at Temple and a goal and an assist against FIU.
Aguilar has recorded points in four of the last five games to bring his total for the season to eight.

Finding the Winning Formula

Going into the game against Temple, coach Tom McIntosh switched up Tulsa's usual 4-4-2 formation to start in a 5-4-1 positioning against Temple.
Since the switch, Tulsa has won two of their three games, with seven of the nine points in those two games coming from starters.

Thallinger Named American Defensive Player of the Week

Senior Kevin Thallinger earned American Defensive Player of the Week honors following his heroic save against Central Arkansas.
A defenseman from Markranstädt, Germany, Thallinger's save earned the No. 1 spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays Saturday. He made the stop by sliding to kick away a shot headed for the back of the net, redirecting it over the goal and out of bounds. The effort preserved TU's shutout and secured the win.

Danny Stevens Bolsters Defense in First Career Start

True freshman defender Danny Stevens from Munich, Germany, got a last-second nod on Thursday to be part of the first starting 11 of the new season.
The Tulsa defense didn't skip a beat with the pregame substitution, earning its first shutout since September 29, 2023.

Bottenburg Named American Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

Wes Bottenburg has been tabbed the American Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Monday.
A defender from Utrecht, Netherlands, Bottenburg is coming off a junior season in which he started in 13 of 14 games played and spent 1,167 minutes on the field. He netted two goals to finish as the fourth-highest scorer on the team while bolstering Tulsa with strong defensive play throughout the season to earn First Team All-Conference honors.
Bottenburg was also named to the 16-player American Preseason All-Conference Team.

Tulsa Poised for Underdog Season

The coaches of the American Conference have picked Tulsa to finish eighth of nine teams in the 2025 Preseason Coaches' Poll, with just two points more than last-place Temple.
TU is coming off a down year in which the Golden Hurricane finished seventh with a 2-4-1 league record and 3-9-3 overall record.
Since then, Tulsa has returned seven starters from last year who are hungry to bounce back in 2025, including First Team All-Conference choice Wes Bottenburg and unanimous all-freshman Alex Cunningham.
13 players left the roster, so McIntosh's recruitment staff hit the road and the transfer portal and added 13 brand new players looking to bring Tulsa back to championship status.
Key newcomers include JUCO All-American Luc Achermann-Stanfield (Eastern Florida State), NAIA all-star Joao Neves (Oklahoma Wesleyan), veteran goalkeeper Samy Slimi (Campbell), Pittsburgh defender Dani Gamboa and true freshman Joses Chukwu (Toronto, Ontario).

The Timeless Tom McIntosh

Coach Mac has completed 30 seasons at The University of Tulsa in his illustrious career.
He is one of 16 active head coaches at the DI level to have coached for 30 or more seasons and is one of six active head coaches to have accomplished the feat while coaching for only one program.
He is tied for the 14th-longest active DI coaching career.
McIntosh has coached Tulsa through four conferences: Missouri Valley (1995, 2000-04), WAC (1996-99), Conference USA (2005-13) and the American (2014-present).

Home Field Advantage

The Tulsa men's soccer team has been tough to beat at the Hurricane Soccer Stadium, tallying a 30-14-9 mark since the beginning of 2019.
2025: TU starts off the year undefeated with a tie against CSUN in the opener (0-0-1).
2023-24: Tulsa earned five combined home wins between the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
2022: Tulsa was 6-0-1 in the regular season but went 1-2 in postseason action at home.
2021: 8-0 in the regular season, but went 3-1 in postseason, falling in the NCAA Third Round game to West Virginia in double overtime (11-1 overall).
2020-21 (season played in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic): 4-0-1.
2019: Tulsa fell in only two home contests while nabbing three wins and two ties (3-2-2).

Visit www.TulsaHurricane.com for the latest news and information on the men's soccer program. Fans can also follow the team on X, Facebook and Instagram.