North Texas SC secured two points on the road against Colorado Rapids 2 Wednesday night, after a hard-fought draw resulted in a 4-2 win in penalty kicks.
North Texas returned for this mid-week edition of MLS Next Pro soccer in their signature 4-2-3-1 formation. JT Harms got the nod to start in goal, with Nico Montoya behind him on the bench. Ale Urzua and Michael Cortellessa both made their first starts of the season for Los Toritos.
Anthony Ramirez, Jaidyn Contreras, and Joshua Torquato all returned to the starting XI after missing this past Saturday’s game against Austin FC II. Torquato spent the weekend with the senior team in Kansas City, as FC Dallas took on Sporting KC.
The home side held a slightly different formation, with Colorado sporting a 4-3-3. Zack Campagnolo got his sixth start of the season, with this being his first glimpse of playing time since May 9th.
A ton of Rapids also made their return to the starting lineup, as Anderson Rosa, Malik Pinto, Rogelio Garcia, Kimani Stewart-Bynes, and Colton Swan all started alongside Campagnolo. Garcia’s appearance tonight for Rapids 2 was his first for the team this season.
It’s no surprise how physical this game started out. When two of the top teams in any conference come together, it’s always going to be an intense match. Despite the 0-0 scoreline going into halftime, both teams played incredibly tough and neither side wavered in the slightest.
North Texas continued their run of form as of late with 3 yellow cards and 10 fouls committed; however, they did manage to accumulate the only shot on goal during the first 45 minutes of play.
In the 60th minute, Sam Sarver finally broke through for North Texas. A great ball from Ramirez sent Sarver through past the defense. Sarver took a couple of touches into the box, planted his left foot, and buried it with his right for his 8th goal of the season, giving North Texas the 1-0 lead.
“This was a team we knew we could catch on the counterattack and it was something we scouted all week,” said North Texas Forward Sam Sarver. “Other teams might not have certain strengths, so they won’t look to counter as much. John (Gall) always tells us, if it’s on, play it.”
That lead wouldn’t last very long, however, as Colorado would look to equalize quickly. In the 70th minute, Pinto sent in a cross off a corner that found its way to Swan, who was able to head it past Harms to tie the game at 1-1.
After 90 minutes of soccer, the game headed to a shootout. North Texas showed composure, resilience, and ultimately found a way to win.
Penalty Kick Results:
NTX – 🟢🔴🟢🟢🟢
COL – 🔴🟢🔴🟢X
Truthfully, the game wasn’t North Texas’s best performance. They’d even tell you that. However, there are a few players who had themselves a game. JT Harms played extremely well, saving two shots in the Penalty Kicks, and Sam Sarver had the lone goal that gave them the lead.
However, Mohamed Cisset is my Man of the Match tonight. Multiple clearances and blocks, including one in the 48th minute that would’ve been a sure goal hadn’t it been for Cisset assisting Harms on the goal line. If that ball goes in, North Texas loses this game.
“Tonight was against a really tough, physical team, a team that’s older than us, a team that makes it very difficult on set pieces and direct play, and I thought that we managed the game really well,” said Coach John Gall after the game. “I felt that we did enough to win the game and I think that we deserved to win the penalty shootout.”
Up next, North Texas SC travels to Swangard Stadium to take on Whitecaps FC 2 on Saturday, June 21st at 6:00 pm CT. The Whitecaps are currently 4-6-3 on the season.
