An 89th-minute equalizer from Real Monarchs sent the game to PK’s, where North Texas SC was unable to defeat the home team at Zions Bank Stadium. A less-than-desirable point, from a game in which North Texas led for a large portion of the game.
Lineups and Tactics
For their inaugural game of the 2026 MLS Next Pro season, North Texas SC held a 3-5-2 formation, with familiar faces Josh Torquato and Jaidyn Contreras playing out wide as the team’s respective wing backs.
On the backline, the team’s newest signing, Jonah Biggar, started at CB, alongside Slade Starnes and Jonah Gibson. In goal, Eryk Dymora earned his first start for the away side.
Up front, Los Toritos started newcomer Natty James and recent MLS Superdraft pick Nick Simmonds as the team’s duo of strikers. Most notably absent from the lineup tonight was Caleb Swann, who led the team in games played last season. Swann, Alvaro Augusto, Nico Montoya, and Ricky Louis were in Dallas with FCD.
The Opposition sported a very similar lineup, opting for a 5-3-2 with their wingbacks playing much further back than North Texas. In goal, Max Kerkvliet earned his first start of the season. Gio Calderon anchored the backline at CB, also donning the captain’s armband.
Up front, the Monarchs paired last season’s leading goal scorer, Jesús Barea, with Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos. Most notably absent from tonight’s starting XI was Aiden Hezarkhani, who was second on the team in goals scored last season.
The Game
North Texas SC newcomer, Edu Nys, would kick off the scoring in the 40th minute with an emphatic finish. After a pass in the away end of the field is cleared away, James makes a great run on the counter and ends up threading a ball through to Nys, who bangs home the opening goal to make it 1-0.
The Monarchs answer right back to start the second half. In the 55th minute, the Monarchs built up a dangerous possession with a string of passes through the box, which eventually found their way to Barea, who curled in a low shot to even the game, 1-1.
Los Toritos retook the lead in the 83rd minute, after Diego Garcia played a through ball to Daniel Baran. The winger immediately crossed it over to Simmonds in the box, who buried it home for the 2-1 lead.
“These kids are hungry to be successful, hungry to do well,” Head Coach John Gall said. “We’ve told them from day one that we want them to be with the first team. That is our goal. That’s the ultimate goal here, but when you come here for North Texas, you need to be committed. You need to be switched on. You need to be all in with both feet, and I’m really, really proud of these guys for coming together like they did tonight.”
In dramatic fashion, however, the home team saved a point for their team with a last-minute goal. Off the set piece in the 89th minute, Felix Ewald’s header hit the post and bounced out to Rodrigues, who tapped it home to send the game to PK’s.
After 90 minutes of soccer, the game headed to a shootout. In which the Real Monarchs were able to come up with two huge saves and take two points from NTSC.
Penalty Kick Results:
NTX – 🔴🟢🟢🟢🔴
SLC – 🟢🟢🟢🟢X
“I have some mixed emotions,” Coach Gall said after the game. “At the moment, I’m proud of our team for coming here and scoring two goals. In all honesty, I think we should have scored three or four more, but we had a positive performance that ultimately turned into disappointment.”
Obviously, winning is important, but tonight this team showed a lot of growth. After being a team that was dominated by the performance of Sam Sarver last season, they completely overhauled the roster and managed to score two well-orchestrated goals in their opening game against a very solid opponent.
Tonight’s Man of the Match played a huge part in this team playing as well as it did; that man was Edu Nys. With a goal, 3 shots on target, a pass completion percentage of 88%, Nys did just about everything tonight.
Up next, North Texas SC returns home to Choctaw Stadium to take on Colorado Rapids 2 on Saturday, March 7th at 7:30 pm CT. The Rapids 2 are currently 0-0-0 on the season.