Texoma FC recorded the club’s first win in franchise history with a 2-1 win over reigning champions Union Omaha. Solomon Asante and Ajmeer Spengler scored the goals for the hosts.
In a game that was scheduled to kick off at 7 pm, which eventually kicked off at 9:06 due to weather, Coach Adrian Forbes made a single personnel change. Davey Mason started this week in place of William Perkins. In the formation graphic, I set it up as a 4-2-3-1, but it is important to note that Texoma spent the majority of the game in a 5-4-1 when organized in defense. Mason was often at left back and slid up to left wing in attack.
The first chance of the game came in the 7th minute when Union Omaha put a header off target. Shortly after, Texoma keeper Javier Garcia was called into action and collected a shot from outside the box.
While Union Omaha stayed on top of the game Solomon Asante saw a big chance in the 26th minute that was kept out. But seconds after his first chance, Asante found the back of the net off of an assist from Maciej Bortniczuk. The rest of the first half did not see much action and Texoma took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
No changes were made at halftime. Garcia was once again called into action in the 62nd minute and prevented a big chance. 5 minutes later, off the pitch, Union Omaha manager Dominic Casciato was shown a straight red.
Texoma’s first substitution came in the 71st minute when Teddy Baker came on for John Paul Jordan. Shortly after, Luke McCormick came on for Maciej Bortniczuk, and Davey Mason made way for Lamin Jawneh.
In the 84th minute, Ajmeer Spengler scored his 4th goal of the season of a left-footed strike from outside the box, to double Texoma’s lead.
What looked to be a comfortable Texoma win was put to the test when, in the 87th minute, Union Omaha scored directly off a corner. However, Texoma would hold the 2-1 scoreline to preserve their first win in club history.
Positive takeaway: aside from the obvious that Texoma got their first ever win, Texoma keeper Javier Garcia looks more than comfortable in goal. Garcia, who I thought would be GK1 coming into the season but was on the bench the first few games, seems to have finally taken control of the GK1 spot.
Garcia is aggressive off the line, distributes well, and has great shot-stopping ability. Garcia is an overall “modern-day” keeper. Texoma has a problem that most teams like to have: 2 good goalkeepers.
For now, I expect Garcia will stay as GK1.