North Texas SC Continue to Dominate in Minnesota with 3-0 Victory
With Logan Farrington starting, North Texas went up early, and aided by a red card against their opponent, never looked back, cruising to a 3-0 away win. Is this team special?
On Sunday evening, North Texas Soccer Club continued to show why they are contenders this year, playing exciting attacking soccer with spirit and fight.
Not that Minnesota United FC 2 made life easy for the visitors.
Throughout the match, the home side tried to compress the field and prevent North Texas from finding space to run and create opportunities. It almost worked, though a delicious chipped ball early in the first half from Diego Garcia found Pedrinho who slotted in his fourth goal of the campaign. From that point on, Minnesota gained confidence, pushing for an equalizer, but North Texas summoned just enough defensive moxy to clear the ball out of danger each time a dangerous opportunity fell into Minnesota’s lap.
After MUFC player Rory O’Driscoll earned a second yellow for a firm shove on Tomas Pondeca, the game opened up further. Logan Farrington, in his first start with North Texas, delivered a perfectly weighted ball to Abdoul Zanne who scored his first goal for his side, and then Enes Sali sliced through the opponents to score a classy third. Minnesota had no answers.
“We are the type of team who is going to make it difficult,” John Gall said after the match. “Our mentality is a strong one. Even though Victor is in goal and we have the back line, I think that our defending starts from the front. Pedrinho, Farrington, Pondeca, Garcia - all of those guys through the middle.”
Indeed, Brazilian-American goalkeeper Victor Darub, joining the team last season, hasn’t had an opportunity to impress much, but he filled in capably last week when Collodi was sent off and can claim his first start and full clean sheet.
Zanne after the game was full of gratitude for his teammates and for the selflessness of guys like Logan Farrington. All of this points to a strong team spirit and a squad that is going to be a difficult out for any opponent.
More on Farrington, the young striker has been a pleasant surprise and bright spot for a miserable FC Dallas, playing hero a couple of times in the Open Cup already and doing enough to earn more minutes. Getting him a full 90 with North Texas, on top of grabbing an assist, keeps him fresh and fit as interim FCD coach Peter Luccin considers formation adjustments.
Side Note: The North Texas media crew opened the post-game press conference by asking reporters not to ask about the broader FC Dallas situation, as news of Nico Estevez’s dismissal was working its way among the players and staff. Of course, I’ll be curious how the change impacts things with North Texas. We will see some of the guys get more minutes with the senior team? Will tactics change?
And Another Side Note: North Texas SC skipper John Gall continues to make a case for some consideration as a future head coach. The question will be when. Of course, there is a lot of soccer to be played and plenty of challenges ahead for the team. The early returns are very promising.