Not North Texas Soccer's Night: 4-3 Loss to Whitecaps 2
John Gall said, "I’m really disappointed because I know we are better than that."
Despite an early goal from John Torquato, a penalty from Sam Sarver, and an equalizer from Ian Charles, North Texas Soccer Club fell apart on the road in Vancouver tonight, ultimately losing 4-3 to the home side.
This was simply a disappointing night.
After getting two points on the road earlier in the week, Gall and company were visibly depressed with the mistakes that kept Vancouver in it.
“There are players in that locker room right now that didn't perform to the level they can perform at. I think that we have to understand that there is a level of consistency and expectation in our club,” Gall said to the media after the match. “Unfortunately, we were not at that level. Strategically, you say things that will wake people up. We completed over 550 passes in the games. We controlled the game. Even after we scored our first goal, it was going to be a difficult one. The third and fourth goals were really poor mistakes from us that ultimately cost us the three points tonight.”
The loss sets North Texas back a bit as they look at a tight and difficult Western Conference in the MLS Next Pro.
“Before going to St Louis, we had a pretty good grasp on the top of the table. We were doing super well, game in and game out. We were getting a lot of points and now we are kind of slipping,” Ian Charles said to media. “We just need to gather everyone up and really think about what's next. Guns a blazing is going straight forward, to get the most amount of points we can get. We have to work every single game. We're not really happy about where we're at right now, but the only thing we have to do is to look forward. We can't dwell.”
Torquato, after making his first team debut, cleaned up a chance early in the match to put his side ahead, his first professional goal. It was a nice moment in a big week for the homegrown player.
But ultimately, the result asks a lot of questions of the team.
How can you score 3 goals and lose?
What will be the right balance of offense and defense for this team?
North Texas likely wasn’t expected to be in the top tier of MLS Next Pro after winning it all last season, especially with such a turnover of players and a shift to a much younger roster. But still, to go up 3-2 and then give up two goals? Not the result the team needed.