Much like the weather, the game was a bit gloomy for North Texas SC, as they lost 2-0 against St. Louis City 2 on the road at Energizer Park. The 5th NTSC loss of the season also happened to be the 5th time they’ve been shut out this season.
Lineups and Tactics
North Texas SC held a 4-1-4-1 formation. Which, at times, looked very much like a 4-3-3, as both Diego Garcia (LM) and Ricky Louis (RM) played quite wide and managed to get farther forward than their positions may usually entail.
In goal, Eryk Dymora earned his 9th start of the season. The backline saw two changes as Joshua Torquato replaced Liam Vejrostek at LB, and Jonah Gibson replaced Enzo Newman at RB.
There were two additional changes in the midfield as Caleb Swann replaced Marlon Luccin at CM, getting his 3rd start of the season. The other change was the addition of Louis for Sam Sedah at RM. Up top, Natty James got his 13th start of the season.
The opposition sported a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Colin Welsh getting his 5th start of the season. Captain Chris Pearson anchored the backline at CB, with Owen Jorgensen (CB) alongside him. Out wide, Andrew de Gannes started at LB opposite Riley Lynch, who started at RB.
It was a fairly fresh squad as Adeteye Gbadehan (CM), Evan Carlock (CAM), and Mykhi Joyner (RW) all earned their 3rd start of the season. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Patrick McDonald who has two goals on the season and had started 11 games prior to their matchup against North Texas.
The Game
At the end of the first half, this game was level at 0-0. Neither team found the back of the net, despite numerous opportunities. North Texas accrued 3 shots on target out of a total of 5, compared to City 2, who had 9 total shots, with only 1 of those being on target.
Possession was relatively even as City 2 managed to edge out a slim margin over Los Toritos with 54% of the ball. Despite the solid first half, St. Louis found the first goal to open the second half.
In the 48th minute, St. Louis played a short corner to Palmer Ault, who had two additional players make a double overlapping run. The set piece resulted in Carlock playing a low ball towards goal. The ball bounced off Leandro Gonçalves and in, for an own goal.
“The really frustrating part for us is, we come out in the second half, and we talked about specifically our defensive responsibilities to make sure that we don’t allow the opponent to have these opportunities,” head coach John Gall said. “We let them get close to our goal and all of a sudden we score an own goal, and it’s one-nil, and it changes the complexion of the game.”
The home side doubled their lead in the 64th minute after Joyner found the back of the net. The goal scorer, Joyner, started the buildup as he played the ball to de Gannes, who had made an overlapping run. The fullback played it back to Ault, who tapped it back to Joyner, who buried the game’s final goal. 2-0, St. Louis.
“Disappointed with the result,” coach Gall said. “We didn’t put the ball in the back of the net, and we talked at halftime about when you don’t punish teams, and you don’t put the ball in the back of the net, there’s always a chance that the opponent can score. Unfortunately, that’s football.”
Despite the loss, I would be remiss to not mention how well Eryk Dymora played. Our Man of the Match finished the game with 6 saves and was, in large part, the reason St. Louis did not run away with the game.
Up next, North Texas SC travels to Swangard Stadium to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Wednesday, June 10th at 8:00 pm CT. Vancouver is currently 2-8-2 on the season, with 1 shoot-out win.