Edwardsville, IL (July 22, 2022) – North Texas SC’s (9-5-3, 31 points) winless streak continues after St Louis CITY2 (11-3-2, 36 points) came away with the 2-0 win in the first ever meeting between both clubs. Goalkeeper Antonio Carrera recorded eight saves in the match to set a new career-high.
ANTONIO CARRERA APPRECIATION
Goalkeeper Antonio Carrera made eight saves in tonight’s match vs. St Louis CITY2 making it his new career-high. His previous record was six saves on his debut vs. MNUFC 2 in the MLS NEXT Pro inaugural match. Carrera has registered 33 saves in 10 starts, one penalty kick save and two shutouts.
JULY’S NOT NICE
With tonight's 2-0 defeat to St Louis CITY2, North Texas SC remains winless in its last four matches played. NTSC holds a 0-3-1 record for the month of July.
AWAY RECORD
With tonight’s 2-0 defeat to St Louis CITY2, North Texas SC‘s away record falls to 4-3-1. NTSC has scored 12 goals and conceded nine goals in eight games played on the road.
UP NEXT: NORTH TEXAS SC HOSTS SPORTING KC II FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON
North Texas SC will host Sporting KC II for the first time in MLS NEXT Pro play this season. The match will take place at Choctaw Stadium on Sunday, July 31 and will be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com starting at 7:30PM CT. NTSC holds a 1-1-0 record when facing SKC II with four goals scored and four goals conceded in two matches played.
Lineups
North Texas SC — Antonio Carrera; Collin Smith, Blake Pope, Paul Amedume, Isaiah Parker (Luis Cardoso — 61’); Alejandro Araneda (Nolan Norris — 78’), Tomas Lacerda, Alejandro Urzua (André Costa — 46’); Hope Avayevu (Pablo Torre — 71’), José Mulato, Bernard Kamungo.
Substitutes not used — Blaine Ferri, Tarik Scott, Felipe Carneiro.
St Louis CITY2 — Roman Bürki; Kwame Awuah (AJ Palazzolo — 71’), Kyle Hiebert, Joshua Yaro, Benjamin Di Rosa; Wan Kamal (Karson Gibbs — 89’) , Max Schneider, Akil Watts, Célio Martins; Vitor Dias (Ezra Armstrong — 46’), Josh Dolling.
Substitutes not used — Ian McGrane, Sergio Rivas, Michael Creek, Dida Armstrong, Jack Wagoner, Fritz Volmar.
Scoring Summary:
STL: Victor Dias (penalty kick) — 39’
STL: Wan Kuzain (Akil Watts) — 70’
Misconduct Summary:
NTX: Alejandro Urzua (caution) – 35’
NTX: Hope Avayevu (caution) – 60’
NTX: Luis Cardoso (caution) – 69’
NTX: Nolan Norris (caution) – 84’
NTX: Collin Smith (caution) – 90’
Weather: Sunny, 97℉
Referee: Elton Garica
Assistant Referees: Chana Forstall (1), Eric Burton (2)
Fourth official: Jervis Atagana
North Texas SC Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah
General thoughts on the match…
“I said to the team earlier this week that it would be interesting to see how the game would play out because of the difference in boys versus men. We competed equally and had multiple chances. In the first half, they (North Texas SC team) didn’t care that much and received a penalty. The second half was very good though and we had multiple chances to take a shot. Overall, we’ve been allowing teams to smack us and we stand and watch. That is unlike us and we have to get back to the grind.”
On Collin Smith’s performance…
“It’s sad that Collin picked up his fifth yellow card because he’s been solid and has been really working hard to improve every single day. He played today like a man. He was fighting and battling for the team.”
Midfielder André Costa
General thoughts on the match…
“The result and the match were disappointing. We are disappointed in ourselves. There were parts of the game that were not great. I felt like in the second half we did a little better. We were more intense and we followed our game plan. You can’t just play 45 minutes well, you have to play the full 90 properly. I felt like that really cost us. In the first half, they were a lot more intense than us and they won almost 100% of the duels. You can’t win like that, especially against a mature, experienced and older team like St Louis. We have to come out with everything and that is what we normally train for. We just didn’t put it out there for the full 90 and that is what costs us the game.”
On the team’s current form…
“I wouldn't say we have disconnected. I feel like everyday we get closer and closer with each other off the field. We know each other better on and off the field. There is no disconnect and there is nobody on the team that wants to do things their own way. It’s normal for teams to have a dip at some point in the season. Whether it's at the beginning, middle or at the end, we just can’t let these bad habits continue. We just got to talk to each other at practice to get everyone on the same page that we will turn this around. We’ve been getting better at some things from our last performance, but it is still not enough. Against SKC II next week we can not let this streak continue. We know who we are and we know where we should be, and that is fighting for first place and a playoff spot.”
