North Texas SC took on Orlando City B for the second out of three times this season. North Texas came away with a convincing 4-1 win and they did it in spectacular fashion in what truly was a breakout game for this team.

The Game

North Texas SC was arguably shorthanded this game as Brandon Servania and Thomas Roberts had their names written in for the FC Dallas 18 with John Nelson being the starting left-back for FC Dallas. Brecc Evans was with an injury. The first half was lively as NTSC was doing well with interchanges in the final third and showed signs of fluidity.

North Texas continued being structured in the second half. Orlando City B got a goal early in the half and it looked like what North Texas needed. Ronaldo Damus came in for David Rodriguez as he looked to ignite the attack. Tanner Tessman, playing the midfield after playing in the attack the last two games, slot the ball into the bottom corner to tie things up for North Texas. Johan Gomez scored which restored the lead for North Texas. Ronaldo got fouled in the box which resulted in an Arturo goal off the penalty. Ronaldo went and scored a very cheeky goal as North Texas SC went to win 4-1 to continue their winning streak.

Thoughts and Takeaways

Fluidity and Comfort

Fans really should be staying and watch North Texas SC play. They play exciting and complete soccer and Eric Quill has done a great job molding this team thus far. With that being said, if there is any part of the match that you must watch, watch the last 35 minutes of the game. It was some of the best soccer that you can watch. After going down for the first time in the season, these young men responded well and took their game to a whole new level. There was fluidity amongst the players that looked very natural and well understood.

“Some of the guys on the team have been playing in the academy 3 to 4 years and its finally coming out when we put the right guys on the field. The connection that we have, it’s just a feeling that we know where our guys are and when it comes out like it did tonight, it’s awesome to watch and be a part of.” – Tanner Tessman

The first half of the game showed moments of the understanding amongst players to create quality chances to score as well as being defensively sound. It all came together in the final moments of the game. Each player had an understand where each other would be and they knew what each other’s capabilities and skills where. It did not look like a team of 11 players but a single unit with 11 parts working perfectly well together to pull out a result.

“I feel like it’s our chemistry it’s like you said, hard to put into words. We’re best friend on and off the field. It’s like finishing someone’s sentence. We know where they’re going to move, we know where they’re going to go, you know where the pass is going to go and [we] build off one another.” – Johan Gomez

Growth

The goal of North Texas SC is to help make the step from the academy to the first-team easier for younger players. It also serves as a development team to help draft-picks, young players, and injured players to come and fine-tune their game. Eric Quill doesn’t have an easy job when it comes to the uncertainty of what players will be available to him each week. That uncertainty can make forming a squad and identity difficult for any coach. With that being said, NTSC has made remarkable growth since the beginning of the season. There is no doubt that these players have the individual skill and talent to be professionals but in the first 2-3 games there was a disconnect between players. Additionally, the stamina and physical capabilities of these young men were not quite up to the level needed at the professional level.

Eric Quill has done a wonderful job grooming these players to play at the professional level and getting to them react and display confidence on and off the ball and it was clearly evident in this match against Orlando City B. Even with the constant change of players and players playing out of position (Tanner Tessman as striker and Jatta as center-back as examples) Coach Quill and the players have stepped up and rose the challenges.

“Even when we went down one [to] zero that’s how much belief that I have in these guys. I know that we are going to get our chances, I know who they are going to become. I didn’t expect four [but] the last 35 minutes every single player was sharing the ball, one and two touch, moving it and they [Orlando City B] couldn’t get around us.” – Eric Quill

Will and Discipline

One of the harder things to quantity about this team is the mentality and the will to play and the desire to win. Building off of the previous two sections, North Texas SC displayed a mood and confidence that is infectious for not only the team but fans alike. They had a swagger about them that gave off the message, “Hey, we can do this and will do want we want”. While displaying this confidence, they were disciplined in how they wanted to move the ball around and how they treated the ball. They worked hard and fought for each ball knowing that any chance can prove to be an advantage for this team.

“I think we’ve been waiting for that breakout game. We’ve been scoring one goal…we have more quality than that and everyone has been waiting for that moment where it explodes and surely enough it did tonight. It showed after the second goal and everyone wanted to get involved in it and they started to believe…You saw character ooze out of everybody and the belief and a real happiness with playing their football.” – Eric Quill