The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros were greeted with a sellout crowd in their first-ever home game, but two goals early in the second half saw LA Galaxy II temper the festivities with a 2-0 victory at the UTRGV Soccer and Track Complex on Saturday.
Jack McBean scored his sixth goal of the season two minutes after halftime and Ari Lassiter doubled the lead within five minutes as the visitors improved to 3-0-4 and RGV FC dropped to 2-2-1 on the season.
Fans were turned away after a sellout crowd of 2,431 filled the UTRGV soccer stadium for the highly-anticipated home opener. As many as four more home games will be held at the university field while construction continues on Toros Stadium, the 9,400-seat soccer-specific stadium set to open later this season.
Four Houston Dynamo players on loan to RGV FC were in the starting lineup for Wilmer Cabrera’s team: Goalkeeper Tyler Deric, defender Sebastien Ibeagha, midfielder Zach Steinberger and forward Mauro Manotas.
Deric, playing his first game for RGV this season while serving a one-game MLS suspension, was tested early on. The Dynamo Academy product made a big save in the 20th minute to keep the game scoreless.
RGV FC midfielder Jose Escalante continued his potent start to the season, creating a pair of chances in the 26th and 35th minutes that were well defended by Galaxy II for a corner kick, and blocked shot, respectively.
Toros defender Kevin Garcia had a chance from a corner kick in the 61st minute, but his header was saved by Galaxy II goalkeeper Clement Diop.
Dynamo Academy product Memo Rodriguez came closer near full time, forcing Diop to parry his dangerous shot away.
Next up, the Toros visit San Antonio SC on Saturday, May 7 for the first regular-season matchup with their Texas rivals.
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros (2-2-1, 7 points) vs. LA Galaxy II (3-0-4, 13 points)
April 30, 2016 – UTRGV Soccer and Track Complex – Edinburg, Texas
USL Regular Season
Scoring Summary:
LA: Jack McBean 6 (n/a) 47
LA: Ariel Lassiter 3 (Raul Mendiola) 53
Rio Grande Valley FC: Tyler Deric; George Malki, Sebastien Ibeagha, Kevin Garcia, Kai Greene (Ivan Magalhaes 76); Charlie Ward, Zach Steinberger, Emilio Garcia (Dzenan Catic 53); TJ Casner (Memo Rodriguez 52), Mauro Manotas (Kyle Murphy 77), Jose Escalante (Christian Lucatero 66)
LA Galaxy II: Clement Diop; Oscar Sorto (Jeffrey Payeras 79), Lee Nishanian, Dave Romney, Josh Turnley; Denzel Slager (Ryo Fujii 72), Jaime Villarreal, Alejandro Covarrubias (Adonis Amaya 85), Raul Mendiola (Ethan Zubak 64’), Jack McBean, Ariel Lassiter (John Neeskens 90)
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Referee’s Assistants: Jesus Moya, Jeremy Weed
4th Official: Michael Arrington
Note: RGV FC is the hybrid affiliate of the Dynamo, who control all technical aspects of the soccer operation while the McAllen, Texas based Rio Grande Valley Vipers run the business operations, including the current construction of a 9,400 seat soccer stadium that will resemble Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium.
