Should be a good one tomorrow, when Tulsa Athletic hosts Apotheos FC in the NPSL Final in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After a long regular season, which led into a multi-layered playoff, both of these teams are well-tested and ready to see who will wear the crown of NPSL champion. It will be a battle between two teams with wildly different histories. While Tulsa has played a decade in the league, Apotheos FC is only in its second season, but histories don’t win championships, so Saturday will add a new chapter for one of these clubs.

Tulsa Athletic finished last season in the semifinals and took that positive momentum into the US Open Cup, finishing the furthest of any amateur club in the 2023 competition. After a hiccup with the league over its homefield, the club rumbled through the Heartland Conference regular season, finishing first with a 7-1-2 record. In the Heartland playoff, Athletic continued its run as the #1 seed, before heading into the Midwest Regional playoffs as the #3 seed. That didn’t stop them from upsetting two higher seeds on the way to the Midwest title, but it was in the semifinals when Tulsa really shown. Facing last year’s runner up, Crossfire Redmond, Tulsa cruised to a 4-0 win and a berth in the national championship.

Tulsa Athletic co-founder, Sonny Dalesandro, feels this year’s team has built off previous season’s success. “I genuinely feel like we are a little bit better this year than we were last year, and definitely better than we were in 2021.” But their opponent in the final is looming. “We expect Apotheos to be our toughest challenge this year. A very good team, coming out of a very good conference…We’re preparing for a war on the field.”

After a very successful regular season, Apotheos FC came into the Southeast Conference finals as the #1 seed. The team scored 4 goals in its two conference playoffs match and won the conference crown. In the South Regional playoffs, Apotheos upset two higher ranked clubs (1-0, 2-1) to win the region. The semifinal saw Apotheos FC facing soccer royalty, West Chester United. But the Locomotives upset the Predators 3-1 and moved on the NPSL Final.

This should be a great matchup. And while it might be easy to expect Tulsa to finally win its first NPSL Championship, it would be a massive mistake to overlook Apotheos FC. The second year club has zero fear and has upset clubs all the way to the final. I’ll be pulling for Tulsa to win this though, 3-1.

- Dan Vaughn