ARLINGTON, Texas (June 4, 2023) – North Texas SC (5-4-4, 19 points) earned a 2-0 victory over LA Galaxy II (2-8-2, 10 points) thanks to a brace from Anthony Ramirez Sunday night at Choctaw Stadium.
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
FC Dallas Academy forward Anthony Ramirez scored his first and second professional goals during the match. The 17-year-old opened the scoring in the 50th minute before doubling North Texas’ lead six minutes later. He’s the sixth player to record his first pro goal for the club this season.
TEAM EFFORT
Anthony Ramirez became the 12th player to score a goal for North Texas SC this season. The club has recorded 21 goals overall in 2023 with midfielder Hope Avayevu leading the way with four goals.
UNBEATEN STREAK
The club extended its unbeaten streak to six games with tonight’s 2-0 victory. North Texas has recorded two wins and four draws since its last loss on April 30 against Colorado Rapids 2.
WEATHER DELAY
North Texas SC’s match, originally scheduled to kick off at 7:33PM CT, began at 9:05PM CT due to weather delay. The match kicked off 92 minutes after the original start time.
UP NEXT
North Texas SC visits Timbers2 on Saturday, June 10 at Providence Park. The match kicks off at 7:00PM CT and will be available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Lineups
North Texas SC — Julian Eyestone; André Costa, Manuel Caicedo, Henri Santos, Alejandro Araneda; Carl Sainté (Diego Hernandez – 60’), Diego García (Theo Ferreira – 81’), Alejandro Urzua; Anthony Ramirez, José Mulato (Nayrobi Vargas – 59’), Tomas Pondeca (Jared Salazar – 60’).
Substitutes not used — Justin Stewart, Yeicar Perlaza, Will Baker, Santiago Ferreira, Diego Pepi.
LA Galaxy II — Simon Jillson; Jacob Zapiem, Matteo Carbone, Axel Essengue; Juan Calderon, Brandon Tellez, Adam Saldaña, Axel Picazo; Alexis Alcalá, Aaron Bibout, Sergio Villalpando.
Substitutes not used — Elijah Amadin, Diego Rodriguez, Owen Bizzaro, Nicholas Rozo, Nicholas Dunbar, Aaron Cervantes, Luis Medina.
Scoring Summary:
NTX: Anthony Ramirez (José Mulato) – 50’
NTX: Anthony Ramirez (Tomas Pondeca) – 56’
Misconduct Summary:
NTX: Carl Sainté (caution) — 29’
NTX: Henri Santos (caution) — 37’
Weather: Sunny, 83°F
Attendance: 787
Post Game Quotes
Head Coach Javier Cano
On the team’s performance…
“Today we needed to compete and take advantage of their mistakes. In the first half we were running a lot so at halftime we modified a little bit. We improved and scored two goals. We had to close our lines and the first goal was a counter attack. The second was about how many services we had from the wings. This was our plan. We need to learn that sometimes we need to be more organized and commit fewer mistakes. In this league, players are so young and they make mistakes. We want to avoid that and if we can, we’ll get a lot of points this year.”
On Tomas Pondeca’s performance and transition to MLS NEXT Pro…
“He’s a really good kid and making that transition. He’s coming from futsal so now it’s a bigger space. This conversion to our style and how he is in training and trying to improve every single day, he deserves this opportunity. I’m very happy with him. He had 60 minutes and next time he can have a little more. Or he could come off the bench because he always changes the game from that position. Overall I’m just so happy for him.”
On earning the win after four straight draws…
“It’s amazing. I never felt that today’s game was out of control in the moment. Controlling and doing the right things makes me more calm. I’m not sure what my heart rate was today but I’m sure it was lower than usual. And for that, I’m happy for me. But I’m more happy for my staff and my players.”
On any defensive changes for the game…
“We’ve been focused on that. Analyzing last game, maybe we conceded too many shots. THis week, one of the focuses was conceding fewer goals and building that mentality. If that means being in a low block, it doesn’t matter. It means that we squeeze the spaces and reduce their opportunities in our box. Sometimes, in past games, we tried to press high and were vulnerable and conceded more shots. Today we had less space and conceded fewer shots. Again, I’m happy for my players.”
Forward Anthony Ramirez
On building off the performance…
“I want to keep working, keep improving and keep fighting for the team. We’re focused on the next game coming up against Portland.”
On what the win means for the team…
“The win gives us confidence because we had a couple of draws and were getting a bit frustrated. But with this win the confidence is back and hopefully we can keep on winning.”
On his chemistry with Tomas Pondeca and José Mulato…
“It’s fun playing with them. They’re great players and I feel like we have a good connection on the field.”
