The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros could not come out with a win against C.F. Monterrey 0-3 in tonight’s international friendly kicking off the first game this season inside H-E-B Park.
The game kicked off in a thrilling manner with both teams finding opportunities at goal. Early in the game, Aldo De Nigris and Dorlan Pabon both had opportunities in the second minute of the game. RGV’s goalkeeper Borja Argoitia came out with the save to keep the clean sheet.
In the 18th minute, Rayados got on the scoreboard after Pabon connected with a Yimmi Chara assist. Thirteen minutes later, Arturo Gonzalez doubled Rayados lead after collecting the ball inside the box and finishing it off to lower left of the Toros’ goalie.
The Toros were close to pulling one back in the 55th minute. Eric Bird’s shot hit the crossbar. The crossbar played an important part once again when Camilo Monroy’s curling shot hit the post in the 71st minute. Rayados’ Celso Ortiz rifled in the last goal of the night at the 83 minute mark.
Monroy was able to put his athleticism and talent in display after his double rainbow flick ended with a shot on goal.
“I liked the way we played the ball in the ground, we played it quickly and we created opportunities to score,” said Junior Gonzalez. “We are a team that is going to compete collectively and we want to make sure that we can put ourselves in a position to win every match to compete for the USL championship.”
The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros start the 2017 USL season on Sunday, March 26 against in state rival San Antonio FC. Toros seeks to remain undefeated in the “South Texas Derby”.
Toros Starting XI
Borja Angoitia, Kai Greene, Victor Garza, Robby Sagel, Ivan Magalhaes, Charlie Ward, Eric Bird, Emilio Garcia, TJ Casner, Ruben Luna, Kyle Murphy
Rayados Starting XI
Luis Cardenas, Nicolas Sanchez, Juan Alvarez, Luis Lopez, Luis Fuentes, Walter Gargano, Arturo Gonzalez, Yimmi Chara, Angel Lopez, Dorlan Pabon, Aldo de Nigris.