Dynamo 2sday: Dos rally to beat North Texas in shootout
(image via North Texas SC)
It was a Texas Derby weekend for the Houston Dynamo, and that included Houston Dynamo 2. Dynamo Dos went on the road to Arlington and came from behind multiple times to eventually beat North Texas SC in penalty kicks Sunday night. Houston has never lost to North Texas in MLS NEXT Pro play, winning twice and drawing twice in their four regular season meetings.
North Texas jumped out to an early two goal lead, scoring twice in the first 17 minutes. Carlos Sainte drilled a free kick from distance past Dynamo 2 goalkeeper Andrew Pannenberg in the sixth minute to open the scoring. The home side would add to their lead 11 minutes later when Jose Mulato slotted home from the top of the box after a pass from Bernard Kamungo.
Dynamo 2 cut into the lead ten minutes before half time. Isaiah LeFlore stood over a free kick outside the box, and he stepped over the ball and rolled it into the path of Yair Gonzalez. The Argentine took a touch and then lashed a shot into the bottom corner past NTSC goalkeeper Julian Eyestone. “(Assistant coach) Dan (Roberts) has done an excellent job with set pieces over the week,” Dynamo 2 head coach Kenny Bundy said after the match. “That was a planned set piece for the first one that we got in that scenario. Yair’s (Gonzalez) technique and his ability to finish that gave us a little bit of momentum.”
Houston would carry that momentum into the second half and captain Jacob Evans would grab an equalizer in the 71st minute. LeFlore would once again provide the set up as he played Evans in on the left side of the box. Evans cut back onto his right foot and beat Eyestone at the far post. North Texas would regain the lead in the 82nd minute with a Diego Hernandez goal but Dynamo Dos weren’t done yet.
In the dying moments of the game, Paolo Rios found Isaiah Reid in the box. Reid got free from his defenders, took a touch, then finished with his left foot to tie the game at 3 and send the teams to penalty kicks. “Going into the shootout, it was about controlling those emotions,” Bundy said. “And you're up with 15 seconds left, you score the equalizer, to celebration but you still have a point that you can go and win.”
Andre Luque missed North Texas’ second shot in the shootout, giving the Dynamo an advantage. LeFlore would be denied on Houston’s third attempt and after Jesus Orejuela missed the fourth, North Texas had a chance to win it. Diego Hernandez missed, and Reid would convert Houston’s fifth to send the shootout to sudden death. Both teams made their sixth and seventh attempts with Zeke Soto and Diego Rosas scoring from Houston. Amet Korca couldn’t convert at the eighth time of asking for North Texas, with Pannenbeg making his third save of the shootout, leaving Jathan Juarez with a chance to grab the extra point for Dos. Juarez scored the sixth goal for Houston from the spot and Dynamo 2 would take the two points from Arlington. “Andrew Pannenberg was fantastic,” Bundy said about his goalkeeper after the impressive performance in the shootout. “We knew he has the ability to make some saves and to get away with two points out of that, it's just really fantastic for the boys."
Derby matches bring out the best in players and teams. It shows the heart and fight that players have. We saw that on Sunday night and Bundy sees that in his players. "This is why we play the game,” Bundy said about his message to the team after the game. “These emotions. You grind, suffer, fight in your personal and family life with what we do for these type of moments -- to see the celebration, the fans that traveled all the way down here. They watched the first team and stayed to watch the second team on a Sunday night at 7:30 (p.m.) to see the joy in their face, the joy in the guys' face – this is why we do it. Every day is a grind, you just remember these emotions. There's a lot of singing, there's some music going right now, especially for these young guys I hope it's a springboard in the way they are going to battle when they get their opportunities."
Dynamo 2 will return home for another derby weekend. The Dynamo first team plays Austin FC Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium and Dynamo 2 will take on Austin FC II Sunday night at SaberCats Stadium.
