In their inaugural match as an MLS NEXT Pro club, MNUFC2 fell to North Texas SC 3-1 in a road contest that saw the two squads battle tightly for 75 minutes before North Texas broke it open with a pair of late goals.
Coming into the season-opening affair, both clubs admitted to not knowing entirely what to expect as they entered a brand-new developmental league in which teams would try to find the right balance of developing young talent, giving minutes to first-team reserves and providing opportunities for second-team players to shine, all while trying to put a competitive product out on the pitch.
For MNUFC2, that balance looked like starting four rising talents who have yet to see any MLS action (Fred Emmings, Devin Padelford, Aziel Jackson and Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi); four first-team players looking to log some time and maintain fitness (Callum Montgomery, Nabilai Kibunguchi, Jacori Hayes and Justin McMaster); and three players signed to second-team contracts (Chinenye Uche, Emmanuel Iwe and Nicholas Mendonca).
The first great scoring opportunity of the match came in the 28th minute when Derek Waldeck lofted a beautiful pass to Bernard Kamungo, who put it into the net from the right side of the box; however, the goal was quickly waived off, as Kamungo was caught offside.
Shortly after, MNUFC2 created a great look of its own thanks to a lovely cross from Emmanuel Iwe to Tani Oluwaseyi, who took a difficult volley to send the ball toward the top of the goal only to have it tipped away at the last moment by North Texas keeper Antonio Carrera.
North Texas finally got the scoring going in the 37th minute when MNUFC2 turned the ball over in their defensive third, allowing Derek Waldeck to slip behind the defense and put an easy left-footed shot by Emmings.
The score would remain 1-0 until the 64th minute, when Aziel Jackson created a great look for Justin McMaster from the right flank of the goal box. McMaster’s initial attempt was denied by Carrera, but the deflection came right back to the attacker, who drilled it home with his left foot.
MNUFC2 was unable to capitalize on a handful of good opportunities that came their way in the ensuing minutes, leaving the door wide open for North Texas SC to regain the lead in the 78th minute, when Hope Avayevu’s long-distance shot from the top of the box ricocheted off Emmings to Tarik Scott, who, after his initial attempt denied by Emmings, was eventually able to score his first professional goal by way of header into the now-vacant net.
Ten minutes later, North Texas put the final nail in the coffin when Tarik Scott slipped behind the defense on a free kick from Collin Smith and placed a perfect shot into the lower left-hand corner of the net, setting up the final scoreline of 3-1 and securing all three points for North Texas.
Despite the lopsided final scoreline, MNUFC2 will walk away with several positive indicators from their first-ever regular season contest. They hung with a strong North Texas squad for the bulk of the match and, in fact, had several opportunities to win the game. Moving forward, they’ll look to improve their time of possession, avoid some of the costly turnovers in their own third and eliminate the defensive lapses that allow free runners behind the backline. All in all, though, Cameron Knowles has to be pleased with the showing from his young squad in their introductory match in MLS NEXT Pro.
MNUFC2 returns home on Sunday, April 3 to host Sporting KC II at Allianz Field. Tickets are available at SeatGeek.com, and the match will be available for streaming at mlsnextpro.com.
