Despite the second-half surge by North Texas SC, Austin FC II handed the DFW side their second consecutive loss.
For the fourth time this year, JT Harms started in goal for North Texas. With the team sporting a 4-4-2 formation, Leonardo Orejarena got his first start for the MLS Next pro side. Alongside him in the midfield were Caleb Swann, Landon Hickam, and Sam Sarver.
James Bulkeley also made his first start tonight at CB, with Mohammed Cisset slotting over to LB, to replace the absent Josh Torquato, who was with FCD. Up top, Faisu Sangare made his return to the starting XI, after having missed last week’s game due to a red card.
Verde Dos held a 4-3-3 formation, with Charlie Farrar getting his sixth consecutive start in net for the away team. In the backline, Daniel Cieśla returned to the lineup, replacing Nicolás Van Rijn, who is currently splitting time between the senior team and Austin FC II.
Also notably absent from tonight’s starting lineup were Peter Grogan and Bryant Farkarlun, the team’s top two leading scorers. In their place, CJ Fodrey got his fourth start of the season, and Diego Abarca got his sixth start of the season.
Despite some good chances early for both teams, Austin would strike first. In the 30th minute, Ian Charles brought down Fodrey in the box and conceded an early penalty for the home team. Jorge Alastuey stepped up to take the penalty and buried it. 1-0, Austin FC II.
The road team would take their lead into halftime after a very physical showing between both sides. A first half that saw a combined total of 19 fouls and 5 yellow cards between the two teams.
In the 71st minute, things would continue to take a turn for North Texas. After Djaka Barro played a great through ball to Micah Burton, the Verde & Black substitute was able to lift the ball past Harms and knock it into the open net. Austin FC II doubled their lead to make it 2-0, with only a short amount of time left.
However, North Texas wasn’t done quite yet. In the 78th minute, Daniel Baran sent in a corner kick to the opposing team’s box. The ball bounced around for a couple of moments until it landed at the feet of Alenjandro Urzua, who was able to poke it into the back of the net, and cut the lead to 1.
Unfortunately, despite some additional last-chance efforts from the home team, that’s all North Texas would have in them tonight, and this game would finish 2-1 in favor of Verde Dos. North Texas SC is now 2-2-3 all-time against their in-state rivals.
There’s no easy way to award a player of the game after a derby game loss, but we do need to mention the performance that JT Harms had tonight. Despite giving up two goals, Harms had himself one heck of a game, coming up with multiple big-time saves that kept North Texas SC in this game, when it could have well been over by halftime.
Up next, North Texas SC travels to the University of Denver Soccer Stadium to take on Colorado Rapids 2 on Wednesday, June 18th at 9:00 pm CT. The Rapids 2 are currently 7-4-2 on the season.
