North Texas SC nearly snatched all three points with a late wonder strike but Colorado Rapids 2 found a last-minute equalizer to level the Sunday night game at 1-1.
The match ended in a 3-0 shootout win for North Texas SC, giving the road side the extra point to leapfrog Houston Dynamo 2 in the Western Conference standings.
Rapids 2, on the other hand, was eliminated from playoff contention with the draw.
The match was a hotly-contested stalemate for most of the night as both sides found it difficult to create and finish any chances against the opposition’s backline.
With the game deadlocked at 0-0, it seemed destined to finish scoreless and head to a shootout.
However, North Texas SC Midfielder Andre Costa had other ideas as he blasted a rocket from outside of the box into the bottom right corner to take the lead in the 88th minute.
But with its playoff hopes on the line, Rapids 2 wouldn’t go away that easily.
Defender Michael Edwards leveled the game at 1-1 with a header from a corner kick two minutes into stoppage time.
Despite both sides pushing for a last-ditch winner after the tying goal, Rapids 2 and North Texas SC had to settle for a 1-1 draw and settle the game in a shootout.
North Texas SC dominated the shootout after goalkeeper Antonio Carrera stopped two of the three Rapids 2 spot kicks.
Meanwhile, the team from Texas converted all its spot kicks to win the shootout 3-0.
Following a dramatic 1-1 draw that ended in a 3-0 shootout win, North Texas SC is now the third seed in the Western Conference.
The two points earned from the shootout triumph moved the club past Houston Dynamo 2 in the standings, meaning it’s almost certain the side secures a playoff berth.
North Texas SC is also now unbeaten in its last four games with two of them being convincing clean sheet wins.
Now with only three games left, the team from Texas has eyes for the second seed in the Western Conference as two of those games are against teams in the top four in the West.
