Despite an 89th-minute equalizer from Edu Nys, North Texas SC had two shots saved in the shoot-out and lost in PKs to San Jose Earthquakes II at Choctaw Stadium in the final game for the club in their old home.
With this loss, North Texas SC secured one point and fell to 4-4-4 on the season, with 2 shoot-out wins.
Lineups and Tactics
For their final home game before moving to Mansfield, Los Toritos sported a fluid 4-1-4-1 formation, with Eryk Dymora returning to the starting XI for his 8th start of the season in goal, and his first appearance since April 26th.
Ian Charles floated in the defensive half of the field, acting as the team’s 6, for his 3rd start of the season. Marlon Luccin and Edu Nys started in the central midfield, with Diego Garcia (LM) and Sam Sedeh (RM) starting out wide. Sedeh earned his 2nd start of the season.
Up top, Natty James returned as the team’s lone striker, opposite a backline that consisted of Liam Vejrostek (LB), Leandro Gonçalves (CB), Álvaro Augusto (CB), and Enzo Newman (RB).
Most notably absent tonight was Nick Simmonds, who traveled with the first team to Colorado.
San Jose held a 4-3-3 formation, with Nate Crockford earning his 7th start of the season. The backline consisted of Martin Kwende Jr. (LB), Niklas Dossmann (CB), Alejandro Cano (CB), and Jacob Heisner (RB). An experienced group of young players, all over the age of 20.
Up top, the trio of forwards included Shane De Flores (LW), Tomo Allen (ST), and Zachary Bohane (RW). Bohane entered the game as the team’s leading scorer, with 4 goals on the season. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Julian Donnery, who is tied for 2nd on the team in goals scored.
The Game
San Jose struck first in the 18th minute. De Flores made a run into the box, where his cross towards Allen was kicked away by Gonçalves and back to the feet of Kaedren Spivey. The 16-year-old took a touch and scored a screamer from the top of the box, giving the Quakes II an early 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Spivey once again made a play for the away side. This time, drawing a penalty after Jaidyn Contreras tripped him up in the box. Spivey stepped up to take the kick in the 60th minute, but his shot bounced off the crossbar and out.
North Texas immediately looked to equalize, and in the 66th minute, they did just that. Newman played a low cross into the box, and after a couple of deflections, Garcia was able to get a shot off. That shot deflected out to James, who was there to tap in the game’s tying goal.
That tie wouldn’t last long, however, as in the 71st minute, the Quakes II regained their lead after Edwyn Mendoza lobbed a ball into the box, which was then played back in the air by Cano, to find Allen, who volleyed home a shot off the crossbar and in, for the 2-1 Quakes II lead.
In the dying minutes of the game, Daniel Baran had his shot bounce off the crossbar and fall at the feet of Nys just inside the box. Nys volleyed home the equalizing goal in emphatic fashion and tied it at 2-2 with very little time left.
“Whenever you give two goals away against a good team, the game is difficult,” head coach John Gall said. “But I’m really proud of the guys for fighting back. I think we did enough to win the game, but overall I’m happy the way the team fought and how the team pushed.”
With 5 minutes of stoppage time added, North Texas needed their keeper to come up big as in the 93rd minute, San Jose found themselves in the box as Donnery played a give-and-go ball with Gabriel Bracken Serra, but ultimately had his shot saved by Dymora to send the game to PKs.
After 90 minutes of soccer, the game headed to a shootout. In which, Nicholas Hansen was able to come up with two saves and help the Quakes II secure two points from Los Toritos.
Penalty Kick Results:
SJ – 🟢🟢🟢🟢
NTX – 🟢🟢🔴🔴
“I’m disappointed to be honest,” coach Gall said. “We caused ourselves some issues with conceding goals, but fought back into it two times. I’m really proud of their commitment and effort to go forward. But again, disappointed that we gave up two goals the way we did.”
Despite the loss, a couple of players had solid games, including the Man of the Match, Edu Nys. The ability to secure at least a point for North Texas is something that should not go overlooked. Nys also finished the game, having completed 97% of his passes and created 3 chances for the home side.
Up next, North Texas SC travels to Energizer Park to take on St. Louis CITY2, on Saturday, May 30th at 4:00 pm. St. Louis are currently 6-2-3 on the season, with 2 shoot-out wins.