John Klein notched his second goal of the season with the opener
Despite jumping out to a one-goal lead in the first half, CITY2 fell 4-1 to North Texas SC in the first of a two-game road trip.
With the action beginning slowly, CITY2 began to find its rhythm in the 10th minute after North Texas SC turned the ball over deep in their third. Midfielder Faysal Bettache whipped the ball on frame, but the opposing goalkeeper stretched to his right for the save. In the 27th minute, CITY2 put together another dangerous chance after threading a through ball to midfielder John Klein for a shot from inside the box, but North Texas SC’s goalkeeper once again made a save to keep the match scoreless.
But the home side could not keep CITY2 off the board much longer. Sprinting up the middle of the field, forward Caden Glover found space and rocketed a shot on goal from outside the box that banged off the crossbar. After gathering the rebound inside the box, Klein drilled it past North Texas SC’s diving goalkeeper to put CITY2 ahead 1-0 in the 40th minute.
CITY2 entered the break with the lead on the back of a strong defensive showing in the first half. The away side held North Texas SC to just one (1) shot, zero (0) shots on goal and one (1) corner in the opening frame.
The tide turned early in the second half, though. In the 53rd minute, North Texas SC put together a sequence of passes to slip the ball past CITY2 defenders and into the box before scoring the equalizer. Just one minute later, midfielder Ezra Armstrong was shown a red card after tackling a North Texas attacker, who was on a breakaway. After CITY2 goalkeeper Christian Olivares made a wonderful save in the 69th minute, North Texas SC secured the rebound and netted another goal to take a 2-1 lead.
CITY2 came close to equalizing a few minutes later when midfielder Sergio Rivas volleyed a throw-in on goal, but a jumping save from the home side’s goalkeeper, punching the shot just over the crossbar, kept North Texas SC ahead. Although CITY2 put together a few more offensive runs, the home team locked up their come-from-behind victory with another goal in the 82nd minute. North Texas SC added another goal in the 89th minute en route to their 4-1 win.
UP NEXT
CITY2 squares off against LAFC2 in a mid-week match to conclude their two-game road trip later this week.
STARTING LINEUP
AJ Palazzolo (Ryley Gibbs 64’), Christian Olivares, Faysal Bettache, Wan Kuzain (Dida Armstrong 64’), Fritz Volmar, Caden Glover (Sergio Rivas 56’), Max Schneider, Ezra Armstrong, John Klein, Michael Wentzel, Owen O’Malley (Nolan McGuire 78’)
SUBSTITUTES NOT USED:
Josh Maher, Larsen Hackworth, Eric Walker
