By james art 
North Texas SC needed 106 minutes to break the deadlock Saturday night in the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference title game against St. Louis CITY2 when Anthony Ramirez scored the winning goal.
North Texas got two more overtime goals from Pedrinho and Malik Henry-Scott to win 3-0 and advance to the MLS NEXT Pro Cup next Saturday.
The opening 90 minutes were back-and-forth as 2024 Goalkeeper of the Year Michael Collodi made five saves, including a goal-line stop before halftime. The shutout was North Texas SC’s first playoff shutout in all competitions since 2019. Kyle Zobeck recorded a shutout in the USL League One Final against Greenville Triumph SC on October 19, 2019.
In overtime, the North Texas offense came alive. Ramirez scored the first goal of the game in the 106th minute of extra time. Ramirez scored his second goal of the playoffs, seventh overall for North Texas.
Two minutes later, Herbert Endeili converted a penalty kick. Pedrinho stepped up to take the shot and added an insurance goal for North Texas SC. Pedrinho is now tied for the most playoff goals scored in all competitions in club history (USL League One and MLS NEXT Pro).
In the final minute of overtime, Henry-Scott added the icing on the cake for North Texas with his first goal of the game in his playoff debut.
North Texas will advance to the MLS NEXT Pro Cup on Saturday, November 9 at Toyota Stadium.
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