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North Texas Tops Fort Lauderdale In Six-Goal Thriller

By USLLeagueOne.com Staff, 04/24/21, 10:45PM EDT

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Debutant Thibaut Jacquel led North Texas with a brace

ARLINGTON, Texas - A stunning second-half attacking performance saw North Texas SC open its season with a 4-2 win over Fort Lauderdale CF on Saturday night at Globe Life Park.

Fort Lauderdale's Venton Evans got the scoring started early, powering in a header from a pinpoint cross by Noah Allen. But it took just 14 minutes for North Texas to equalize through Thibaut Jacquel. The Campbell University product's sweetly-struck volley found the top corner to level the score before half-time.

10 minutes into the second half, Fort Lauderdale forward Shaan Hundal scored for the second game running. A poacher's effort, Hundal did well to anticipate where Christian Lue Young's low cross would be, setting himself up for a simple finish to restore his side's lead.

But that lead would turn out to be short-lived. A blistering nine minutes saw North Texas score three times to turn a 1-2 deficit into a 4-2 lead in the blink of an eye. Jacquel scored his second of the night on a superb free kick before Gibran Rayo added a fantastic individual effort just two minutes later.

Bernard Kamungo rounded things off in some style on 79 minutes, powering a shot past the Fort Lauderdale goalkeeper after a bit of fancy footwork. Kamungo, whom North Texas discovered at an open tryout, was the feel-good story of the night.

Despite the many big names that departed this offseason, North Texas' attack looked every bit as dangerous in their season opener as in previous years, which made them one of League One's most entertaining sides to watch.

Eric Quill's team heads to Greenville for a 2019 League One Final rematch with Triumph SC on May 1, while Fort Lauderdale hosts Richmond next Sunday.

USLLeagueOne.com Man of the Match

Thibaut Jacquel (Forward, North Texas SC): Jacquel's professional debut was just about perfect, and it's sure to put League One defenses on notice. Aside from his two goals, both of which were equalizers, he completed 92 percent of his 40 attempted passes, including 26 in the opposition half.

Goal Summary

  • FTL (14'): Evans (first), assisted by Allen
  • NTX (28'): Jacquel (first), assisted by Avayevu
  • FTL (55'): Hundal (second), assisted by Young
  • NTX (70'): Jacquel (second), unassisted
  • NTX (72'): Rayo (first), unassisted
  • NTX (79'): Kamungo (first), assisted by Waldeck

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