North Texas SC Earns a Point After 1-1 Draw with Sporting KC II
- Alejandro Urzua scored his first professional goal
- FC Dallas Academy forward Jared Salazar recorded his first professional assist
- Goalkeeper Antonio Carrera made seven saves
- MLS NEXT Pro Box Score
LAWRENCE, Kansas (June 25, 2023) – North Texas SC (5-6-5, 20 points) shared a point with Sporting KC II (5-4-5, 23 points) after a 1-1 draw, but lost 5 in Sunday night’s extra point shootout: 4 Rock Chalk Park.
FIRST GOAL
Midfielder Alejandro Urzua scored his first professional goal in the 41st minute. Urzua is the 13th different goalscorer this season for NTSC and helped end the club’s 221-minute goal drought.
EXTRA POINT SHOOTOUT
North Texas SC is now 0-5 in this season’s Extra Point Shootout. The club has an all-time record of 2-8 in the shootout.
North Texas SC will host Los Angeles Football Club 2 for the first time on Sunday, July 2. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. CT and is available on the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
North Texas SC —Antonio Carrera; Tyshawn Rose, Manuel Caicedo, Amet Korça (Yeicar Perlaza – 63′), Alejandro Araneda; Nolan Norris (Theo Ferreira – 79′), Alejandro Urzua, Diego García; Jared Salazar (Andre Costa – 67′), Jose Mulato (Hope Avayevu – 79′), Tomas Pondeca (Nayrobi Vargas – 81′).
Substitutes were not used — Julian Eyestone.
Sporting KC II —John Pulskamp; Nati Clarke, Robert Voloder (Nassim Mekideche – 73′), Chris Ridnov, Lucas Rosa; Ethan Bryant, Danny Flores (Vitor Dias – 81′), Felipe Hernandez (Alenis Vargas – 73′); Ozzie Cisneros, Stephen Afrifa (Pau Vidal – 46′), Sebastian Cruz (Bakary Bagayoko – 84′).
Substitutes were not used — Enzo Mauriz, Josh Coan, Jahon Rad, Ethan Bandre.
Summary of points:
NTX: Alejandro Urzua (Jared Salazar) – 41′SK C: Pau Vidal (Danny Flores) – 57′
Summary of Misconduct:
NTX: Amet Korça (caution) – 50′NTX: Nolan Norris (Warning) – 70′
“I repeat myself, but I will continue to say that this group is still growing. The first half tonight was one of the best I’ve seen the group play in a long time. We started a bit slow and they (Sporting KC II) tried to take advantage of that. As we began to push through their boundaries and gain confidence, their view of us changed. If José (Mulato), Diego (García) and Manuel (Caicedo) had taken their chances, this game would have been different. In the second half, opponents adjusted and brought on Pau Vidal. We didn’t control him and he took advantage of that and scored. They got more players up front and I want to thank Antonio (Carrera) who played a great game and kept us in the game with all the saves. I don’t know if we’re cursed or not, but we’re close to victory.”
On the pressure of the second half of the season…
“I don’t feel any pressure. The front office and the employees of the first team know our process. You know what our goal is and how we intend to achieve it. We tell our guys that we don’t put pressure on them, they have to enjoy the game and play without pressure. In this league you get promoted by winning two games, but losing two games can mean relegation. We’ll always be pushing for a playoff spot, but we’re going to make it our way. The next games in July will be important for us before the third quarter of the season.”
Midfielder Alejandro Urzua
When he scored his first professional goal…
“To score my first professional goal in the middle of the season felt like a relief. It helped shift the momentum to our side during the game. I’m happy that the goal helped us get a point away from home.”
Among the improvements made throughout the season…
“We’ve had the misfortune of dropping points late in the game over the past few weeks. Overall, I feel like our game has improved since the start of the season. We still have work to do to manage the final minutes of the game and finish the games where we have an advantage. The extra point shootouts are 50/50 because it’s all about having luck on your side.”