MATCH NOTES
- Forward Pablo Torre scored his second of the season
- Hope Avayevu registered his second assist of the year
- MLS NEXT Pro Box Score
Houston, TX (July 16, 2023) – North Texas SC (5-8-5, 20 points) fell 2-1 in the Texas Derby to Houston Dynamo 2 (7-8-2, 25 points) on Sunday night at SaberCats Stadium.
SUPER SUB PABLO
Forward Pablo Torre came onto the field in the 59th minute of the match and scored his second goal of the 2023 season in the 63rd minute. That was Torre’s sixth-career goal since joining North Texas SC on March 4, 2022. Hope Avayevu provided the assist to log his second of the season.
RECORD VERSUS HOUSTON
North Texas SC falls to a 0-3-2 record when facing Houston Dynamo 2 in league play. Pablo Torre’s goal was NTSC’s first goal scored when playing in Houston after getting shutout in the last meeting on September 18, 2022 (2-0).
AWAY RECORD
North Texas SC’s 2023 away record falls to 2-5-3. The club holds a 7-5-3 record when playing on the road in MLS NEXT Pro play.
UP NEXT
North Texas SC hosts Sporting KC II on Saturday, July 22. The match kicks off at 7:30PM CT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Lineups
North Texas SC — Antonio Carrera; Tyshawn Rose, Manuel Caicedo (Mason Grimm – 46’), Henri Santos, Yeicar Perlaza; Carl Sainté, André Costa (Diego Pepi – 90’+3’), Hope Avayevu; Diego García (Jared Salazar – 83’), Tomas Pondeca (Pablo Torre – 59’), Anthony Ramirez (Nayrobi Vargas – 59’).
Substitutes not used — Julian Eyestone, Malachi Molina, Luke Shreiner, Theo Ferreira.
Houston Dynamo 2 — Xavier Valdez; Mujeeb Murana, Tate Lampman, Talen Maples; Sebastian Rodriguez (Jesus Orejuela – 67’), Isaiah LeFlore, Chase Gasper, Diego Gonzalez, Yair González (Jathan Juarez – 76’); Ezekiel Soto (Joyner Castillo – 67’), Jacob Evans (Omar Grey – 90’+5’).
Substitutes not used — Andrew Pannenberg, Paolo Ríos, Joe Farouz, Brian Alanis, Jorge Estrada.
Scoring Summary:
HOU: Diego Gonzalez (Jacob Evans) – 57’
NTX: Pablo Torre (Hope Avayevu) – 64’
HOU: Isaiah LeFlore – 66’
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: Jacob Evans (caution) — 23’
HOU: Talen Maples (caution) — 39’
HOU: Joyner Castillo (caution) — 68’
HOU: Joyner Castillo (ejection) — 88’
Weather: Sunny, 98°F
Post Game Quotes
Head Coach Javier Cano
Thoughts on the team's performance tonight…
“The strategy was clear, if you go over this game you will see the spaces that we wanted to attack. We were able to get the connections and attack those spaces to create opportunities. In the back we need to be more efficient in the critical scenarios. We need to improve in these situations. In the final third we were able to score, and then we brought on a forward when Houston went down a man. After that we had a couple chances in which we could have capitalized, but it’s disappointing not being able to.”
On preparations heading into the next match…
“We need to defend better. Houston had two clear chances all game, and those were the ones they were able to finish in the back of the net. We need to fix our defending in critical moments. It makes it tough to win a game in this league, and if we keep committing these mistakes, then we won’t be able to make it to the playoffs when we keep conceding.”
On the positives taken from tonight's match…
“The energy the players brought off the bench was what we needed throughout the match. Pablo (Torre) brought that energy when he came on, he was ready to go, and he scored a goal for us. A positive note would have to be Pablo’s impact off the bench to life the team up.”
Forward Pablo Torre
On the importance of every remaining match…
“Every day we train hard, and we stick as a family. We need to keep pushing each other and play hard in every single game. There are nine games left and if we want a shot at playoffs, we need to win points and maintain our focus to close out games.”
On turning the page ahead of hosting Sporting KC II…
“We need to maintain our focus throughout 90 minutes and whatever time the referee adds. We can be up and leading, but one mistake tends to cost us that momentum. It is something that we must change ahead of our next match.”
On personal goals for the remainder of the season…
“I want to keep scoring more goals. I want to help the team and be more in the box. I want to also help set my teammates up so they can score.”
