After 90 minutes of action, North Texas SC dropped all three points against Colorado Rapids 2 at Metropolitan State University of Denver Stadium, as James Cameron found a late goal to stun NTSC, 1-0.
Lineups and Tactics
For the 10th time this season, North Texas hit the road, with the hope of climbing back up the Western Conference table. In this game, they held a 4-3-3 formation, with Nico Montoya getting his 3rd start of the season in goal.
The backline was almost entirely new as Liam Vejrostek (LB), Leandro Gonçalves (CB), and Jonah Gibson (RB) replaced Joshua Torquato, Álvaro Augusto, and Enzo Newman. Slade Starnes remained in the starting XI for the 12th time this season.
Ian Charles held deep as the team’s 6, with Edu Nys and Timothy Ospina starting in the central midfield. Up top, Natty James (LW) and Jaidyn Contreras (RW) started on the wings, with Da’vian Kimbrough starting at ST for the 1st time this season.
The Rapids 2 sported a 5-4-1 formation, with Zack Campagnolo in goal for the 10th time this season. A single change was made on the backline from their previous match as Luis García was inserted into the lineup as a CB.
In the midfield, 15-year-old Nathan Tchoumba started for the 11th time in the central midfield, alongside Sebastian Siegler, who was paired with him at CM. Out wide, Ali Fadal and Jonathan De La Fuente started at LM and RM, respectively.
Up top, Rogelio Garcia started at ST in place of Sydney Wathuta, who started as a reserve. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Josh Copeland, who is tied for most goals on the team, with 3 on the season.
The Game
The first half favored North Texas heavily. Los Toritos tallied 4 shots on goal; Colorado managed 0. Possession was about even; however, NTSC had 19 touches in the Rapids 2 box. All of those chances in the first half amounted to nothing for North Texas, as they finished the game scoreless.
“The conversation we had before the game was about making sure that we didn’t allow this team to stick around too long,” head coach John Gall said. “The conversation at halftime was about making sure that we converted our chances. We had more chances in the second half, and we didn’t convert.”
Colorado, on the other hand, did just enough in the second half to find a winner. In the 90th minute, Landon Strohmeyer’s shot was deflected out for a corner. Off the corner, Jaden Chan Tack played in a cross which pinged around a group of players before finding James Cameron.
The Canadian was able to get his foot on the ball, and while Montoya was off his spot, Cameron buried the goal for the game winner. A frustrating way to drop all three points, especially after North Texas’ previous performance at home against St. Louis CITY2.
“Yeah, it’s really disappointing,” Starnes said. “I felt that we trained pretty well this week. We wanted to keep the energy high after last weekend, and then this happens. As a leader of the team, I take responsibility for that because I want to push the team forward. I want to help the team as much as I can, and the ball just didn’t go our way today.”
Truthfully, nobody played all that great. According to FotMob, only three players managed a rating over 7.0. Including our Man of the Match, Jaidyn Contreras. With the most chances created on the team (5), Contreras also completed 85% of his 33 passes and accumulated 47 touches.
Up next, North Texas SC hits the road once again to take on San Jose Earthquakes II on Sunday, July 18th at a time and location to be announced later. The Earthquakes II are currently 8-4-3 on the season, with 1 shoot-out win.