North Texas SC’s reign as MLS Next Pro Champions came to an end Sunday night as The Town FC won 3-0 and advanced to the semi-finals.
For their Western Conference Quarterfinal match-up against The Town, North Texas SC sported a 4-3-3 formation with JT Harms getting the nod to start in goal. The back line remained unchanged with Los Toritos rolling out Gavin Gall (LB), Mo Cisset (CB), Álvaro Augusto (CB), and Jackson DuBois (RB).
Aaron Essel made his timely return to the starting lineup, holding up the central midfield. Also making his return was Anthony Ramirez, who made his first start since August 31st. Most notably absent from tonight’s lineup was (obviously) Sam Sarver, who started for FC Dallas on Saturday and leads North Texas SC with 19 goals.
Similarly to North Texas, The Town held a 4-2-3-1, which morphed into a 4-3-3 at times when Cruz Medina would pivot between CAM and CM. In goal, Francesco Montali got his 21st start for the team. On the backline, newcomer Max Floriani made his 4th start for the home team.
Alongside them, forward Riley Lynch made his 3rd start at left wing, while Missael Rodríguez started out wide opposite him on the right wing. Most notably absent from the starting XI tonight was Ricardo Ibarra, who has logged over 2100 minutes for The Town this season.
As predicted by some, The Town would take the first lead of the game. In the 32nd minute, Edwyn Mendoza played a corner into the box. Floriani got a touch on the ball and headed it past Harms for the opening goal. 1-0, TTFC.
Things would go from bad to worse at the start of the second half. In the 48th minute, Harms made a save off a shot from Nick Fernandez in the box. After Augusto attempts to clear the ball, it’s deflected off Rodríguez into the back of the goal. The home team’s lead is doubled, 2-0.
“We didn’t control the game like we were hoping to, and I thought we didn’t take our moments,” goalkeeper JT Harms said. “The game comes down to individual battles and just a few key moments in our box and in theirs. Unfortunately, that’s been a bit of this season.”
Unfortunately for North Texas, the nail in the coffin would come in the 82nd minute. Fernadez played a bit of give-and-go with Julian Donnery, which allowed him to find space at the top of the box. Fernadez picked out the bottom right corner and buried his shot to extend The Town’s lead to 3-0. An anti-climactic ending to an ever-so chaotic season for the reigning champs.
“We’re disappointed at the moment. We knew The Town FC would be a tough opponent.” Head Coach John Gall said after the game. “The guys left it all out there, and I can’t fault their effort. It’s been an incredible group of players to work with through the challenges we’ve faced this year. I’m proud of these kids and their push.”
Our final Man of the Match for the 2025 MLS Next Pro season is Caleb Swann. Tonight, he completed 90% of his passes, made 4 tackles, and drew 4 fouls. One of our most improved players over the course of the season showed up once again for his team.
It was total domination by the Town. If their #9 could finish the scoreline would’ve been 5-0 or 6-0.
I realize that North Texas was quite young this year but it really seems there is a talent deficiency with the academy products relative to the rest of the league. Too often they just weren’t competitive enough. I’m not expecting much over the next couple of years in terms of progression.