After conceding the opening goal just minutes into the game, North Texas SC rebounded to score 4 unanswered goals against Real Monarchs in a 4-1 win at Texas Health Mansfield Stadium.
The win elevated NTSC to 7th in the Western Conference, with 38 points through 25 games.
Lineups and Tactics
North Texas held a 4-4-2 formation, which flexed into a 4-2-3-1 at times as they progressed the ball forward. In goal, Nico Montoya earned his 5th start of the season. The backline saw no changes from their previous matchup against St. Louis CITY2.
The midfield saw one change as Ricky Louis (RM) returned to the starting XI after serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Louis was inserted for Daniel Baran, making his 15th start of the season.
Caleb Swann was paired with Lucas Martins for the second straight game at CM, while Nick Simmonds and Edu Nys started as dual strikers for Los Toritos. Most notably absent from the starting lineup was Eryk Dymora, who has now sat out back-to-back games.
The opposition sported a 4-4-2 formation as well, with Robert Alphin in goal for his 9th start of the season. The backline consisted of Ruben Mesalles (LB), Dylan Kropp (CB), Felix Ewald (CB), and Linkon Ream (RB).
16-year-old Nicholas Silva started at RM, opposite Owen Anderson over at LM. It’s worth noting that at times, the Monarchs’ formation would change to a 3-4-3 with two strikers and Silva at the 10. Hayden Sargis and Izahi Amparo were paired together at CM.
Up top, Antonio Riquelme and Zachary Lifferth started as dual strikers, as mentioned previously. Riquelme entered the game with the most assists for the away side, with 4 so far this season. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Lineker Rodrigues, who was recently called up to join the first team full-time.
The Game
The Monarchs scored first, just 5 minutes into the game. After a bit of build-up play, Ream was able to get past Leandro Gonçalves and get it back onto his left foot. His shot went between Álvaro Augusto’s legs and deflected awkwardly over Montoya, who had already dove to save the initial shot. 1-0, Monarchs.
No goals were scored for the rest of the 1st half. However, with some adjustments and substitutions, North Texas changed the narrative of the game entirely in the remaining 45 minutes of action.
“We were disappointed to go down 1-0, especially after creating chances in the first half that we didn’t convert,” Head Coach John Gall said. “At halftime, we talked about being more aggressive and adjusted our press. I thought we imposed ourselves much better in the second half.”
In the 48th minute, after Diego Garcia’s shot was deflected out for a corner, Garcia played a cross into the box that found a leaping Simmonds. The striker headed home the equalizing goal and his 5th of the season.
With some newfound momentum, the home side doubled their score less than 10 minutes later. In the 57th minute, Garcia added to his already solid night off the bench with an ambitious shot from outside the box that wormed its way into the bottom left corner of the goal for the 2-1 lead.
“I just remember we won the ball out wide,” Garcia said. “I saw that I was alone, turned, and saw a little space in the corner of the goal. I thought, ‘I’m going to shoot it and see what happens.’ I took the shot, and it went straight into the corner where the keeper couldn’t get to it.”
The home side didn’t stop there. In the 65th minute, Nys fainted with a step over to his right, and then beat his defender down the left side of the pitch. He crossed the ball into the middle, where Swann tapped home the 3-1 goal for North Texas.
Not wanting to lose out on an extra point, Los Toritos added some additional insurance to lead in the 83rd minute. After Garcia played his corner short to Nys, the Belgian forward played a cross into the box, where Álvaro slipped past Lifferth and tapped home the game’s final goal, solidifying the 4-1 win.
After a nearly 3-month hiatus due to injury, Diego Garcia made a statement in his 2nd game back. Our Man of the Match was able to score a goal and net an assist in 45 minutes of action. He also completed 89% of his passes and added 5 defensive contributions.
“It’s been a hard two months, especially thinking about the injury,” Garcia said. “Of course, coming back has been difficult, but I’m grateful to be back. The game was amazing. I thank God, my teammates, and my coaches for pushing me and motivating me to give 100% in this game. It was just insane.”
Up next, North Texas SC welcomes Houston Dynamo 2 to Texas Health Mansfield Stadium on Wednesday, September 9th at 7:45 pm CT. The Dynamo Dos are currently 13-7-5 on the season, with 4 shootout wins.