It was a picturesque Fourth of July for North Texas SC.
Their new home, Texas Health Mansfield Stadium, will forever show a dominant 3-0 win over St Louis CITY2 as its main tenant's first-ever result.
Led by a second-half brace from winger Ricky Louis and goal from midfielder Caleb Swann, the newest show in Mansfield, Texas, lived up to the marquee moment.
“It’s special for our players to say they get to play in a facility like this," said NTSC head coach John Gall. "...It’s an absolute privilege. As employees of this club, from the staff to the players, we owe it to the organization, and I thought we repaid that tonight with a tremendous performance."
Beyond getting the win in their new home, the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Cup champions also checked off an important box as they look to establish themselves 50 miles away from the HQ of parent club FC Dallas.
"From the day we knew we were coming to Mansfield, we talked about building a community," explained Gall. "I grew up in the U.K., where many clubs are deeply connected to their communities, and this reminds me of that. It feels like the start of something special.
"We’re going to keep giving everything for this club every week, but tonight’s performance was at a high level. I’m proud we were able to put on a show, especially on the Fourth of July, with the fireworks and a great crowd. It was great to see so many people leave happy after watching this group of young players leave everything on the field and earn the result.”
Man of the Match
Delivering a brace, Louis was the star of the show in Mansfield on Saturday. Coming on as a halftime substitution, he opened the scoring in the 53rd minute before adding insult to injury in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
“It felt great to come on and score a brace," Louis said postgame. "I want to thank the team, coaches, the staff for not only believing in me to finish the game, and just working hard. I also want to thank the fans for supporting us."
The 21-year-old winger is a highly-touted up-and-comer in the FC Dallas ranks, selected second overall in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft out of Georgia Southern. After an up-and-down start to the season, Saturday was the stage to have a breakout game.
"To score the first goal in this stadium is something nobody can ever take away from him," added Gall. "I’m really proud of his determination and mentality. We’ve had some honest, heart-to-heart conversations over the past few weeks, and he’s handled them the right way.
"That’s what young professionals do, and it’s what helps them grow.”
Home stretch
Sitting ninth in the Western Conference standings, there's work to do for NTSC in their bid to host postseason games in their new home.
A hearty win over perennial powerhouse CITY2 is a statement-maker, and it snapped a three-game winless skid.
The successful debut in Mansfield looks to have NTSC refreshed, which could be a good sign for all their new fans hoping to see a playoff run.
“The win was super important," said centerback Slade Starnes. "The city of Mansfield embraced us from the moment we walked out for warmups, and we were ready to embrace them right back. There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes to make this happen, and our job was to come out, play our game, compete for each other, defend as a unit, and celebrate our goals.
"We did all of that tonight, so it was a perfect day.”
Two road games stand between North Texas SC's return to Texas Health Mansfield Stadium to host Los Angeles FC 2 on Saturday, July 25. From there, they'll benefit from hosting seven of their last nine matches, which could result in a number of six-pointers in the sprint to Decision Day.
"We weren’t happy with how the first half went," Starnes said. "So, the focus in training over the last few weeks has been on turning the season around. We’ve been playing well, but the small details have cost us at times. The question has been how we can improve over these final 14 games.
"We have a lot of home matches coming up, which is great for building momentum, and I really believe we can keep climbing the table.”
