USL1 North Texas SC

North Texas SC Claims Inaugural USL League One Title

Published on October 19, 2019 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
North Texas SC News Release


Frisco, Texas - An Arturo Rodriguez goal and a seven-save performance from Kyle Zobeck led North Texas to the inaugural USL League One title.

Game Summary

First Half:

12' - Carlos Gomez flicked the ball into the path of Tyler Polak who was in one-on-one, but his chip drifted high and wide.

16' - Christian Bermudez found space in the box and his shot was pushed wide by Kyle Zobeck.

18' - Imanol Almaguer picked up Oscar Romero's and fired in a curler, but Dallas Jaye was equal to it.

40' - Bryan Reynolds raced into space on the right flank and his cross-cum shot was collected by Jaye.

44' - Arturo Rodriguez's free kick curled over the wall and crashed against the post with Jaye beaten.

45 +1' -Bermudez picked up a loose ball outside the box and tried his luck, but Zobeck stood tall to push away.

Second Half:

52' - Rodriguez placed a 1-2 with Thomas Roberts and curled a shot wide from the edge of the box.

57' - Reynolds chipped a cross in and Ronaldo Damus's flying volley flew over the bar.

60' - Jonothan Gomez crossed it into the box and after a failed clearance Rodriguez collected and fired it into the corner to give North Texas the lead.

64'- Carlos Gomez collected a cutback from 12 yards but could only fire straight at Zobeck.

78'- Omer Mohamed's snapshot from a Polak cross was knocked away by Zobeck's great reflexs

88 '- Zobeck came up trumps again as he saved from Dominic Bolland.

Lineups:

North Texas SC - Kyle Zobeck; Jonothan Gomez, Callum Montgomery, Brecc Evans, Bryan Reynolds; Alfusainey Jatta(Tanner Tessmann - 71'), Thomas Roberts (Cesar Murillo- 86'), Imanoal Almaguer; Arturo Rodriguez, Ronaldo Damus, Oscar Romero(Richard Danso- 80').

Substitutes not used - Carlos Avilez, Gibran Rayo, Tanner Tessmann, Dante Sealy.

Greeville Triumph FC - Dallas Jaye; Tyler Polak, Kevin Politz, Cole Seller, Evan Lee; Christopher Bermudez(Dominc Boland - 75'), Carlos Gomez, Paul Clowes(Cameron Saul- 80'), Aaron Walker; Joshua Donnelly, Omar Mohamed.

Substitutes not used - David Greczek, Choi-Sang Ryeong, Sami Guediri, Travis Ward, Edmundo Robinson.

Scoring Summary:

NTX: Arturo Rodriguez - 60'

Misconduct Summary:

NTX: Alfusainey Jatta - 7'

Weather: Sunny, 80

Attendance: 3245

Referee: Jon Freemon

Assistant Referees: Ian McKay, Benjamin Hall-Vopenhein

4th Official: JC Griggs

North Texas SC Head Coach Eric Quill

On his general thoughts on the game...

That is a Greenville team and gave us everything they had. They had a lot of chances, Kyle [Zobeck] stood on his head. This could be your first time watching soccer and you could tell Kyle played out of his mind. Happy for him, he is an extraordinary human being, I'm proud of him, he deserves that. His experience is why he was chosen and you just never know what kind of performance you are going to get. He could be doubting in confidence but you wouldn't be able to tell that from his game today.... We played some really good stuff and this is going to reap massive benefits for FC Dallas and North Texas Soccer Club

On the nervous start to the game...

I thought in the first 15 minutes of the game we looked young, we looked nervous. We want to play out of the back so sometimes in championship games when teams are young, it can look worrying, as the coach it looks scary. This moment for these guys to learn was huge, and those mistakes and those nervous moments they will remember these for these careers, and it will take them into a different stratosphere as a player, to know what they can change about those moments.

On the temperment of the squad...

It is about building leaders on our team. Whether it is a first team player coming down, or an academy player coming up, everyone holds everyone else accountable, and we work for each other and play hard no matter what. We saw over the course of the year that these guys are sometimes 40-50 pounds lighter than the guys they are up against, but everyone learned how to play hard and how to challenge no matter who the opponent is.

On claiming the championship...

I haven't had time to think about it really. I would just say it's not just me, it's our staff. We put in a lot of work together, we put in a lot of hours and these guys work exceptionally hard and we fit each other really well. The team sees that, the culture we built within our second team, to have a constant culture that says a lot about the Brecc Evans of the world, the Arturo Rodriguezs of the world, they are the rocks in the locker room.

North Texas SC Captain and Center Back Brecc Evans

On his thoughts on the game...

I'm extremely proud of this team, the organization, of what we've built here. The USL team has had a lot of moving parts throughout the year. The semi-final to this game had two completely different lineups. That just speaks volumes to what we've been able to do all year. Coming in clutch in the playoffs, Arturo Rodruiguez has had an amazing year. He capped it off with a goal in the final and he deserves it. I'm extremely happy, overwhelmed with emotion, and like I said proud of what we've been able to do.

On addressing the team after the game...

I actually wasn't able to address them. They were too busy screaming. I tried to quiet them down,but they wouldn't listen, but they finally did. Dan Hunt was able to speak to us and express how happy he was for us to bring not just any trophy, but the first trophy but the first year of the league. I mean we are going to be in the hall of fame for ever. That trophy is going to stay here. It's a huge deal and winning it on our home field makes it that much sweeter.

On the relationship between the USL and MLS...

You are seeing more and more throughout the US, the MLS teams are getting secondary teams and using USL as a platform. Younger and younger players are making their pro debuts in this country. I'm really happy FC Dallas has that. Its given me an opportunity to play professional soccer.

Greenville Triumph SC Head Coach John Harkes

On his thoughts after the goal...

We spoke about a couple scenarios so it was good to go through them, what we do if we are 1-0 at halftime, or 1-0 down, how we play at that specific time. Again in the second half you always need to have a Plan A, but we had a Plan B and Plan C which was good. The unfortunate part of it is you want to make a chance in a tactical sense and that depends on the personality and skill set of your players, and some of them are fading or cramping and eventually we had to change to a 3-4-3.

On his teams performance...

We approached the game in the right way, and we played really well. Just a few times we didn't have the finish or the final ball to find the goal. We had really good chances in the first 20 minutes to score and we didn't, and sometimes that allows the other team in and we weren't able to kill off the game and get that goal to take the lead and take control.

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