An early red card to North Texas SC's Edwin Cerrillo kicked off a night that North Texas will hope to forget. The young defensive midfielder was booked for a reckless challenge to Greenville's Maxwell Hemmings. Greenville's low block forced North Texas to press further, tackle harder, and end up committing fouls the referees were all too willing to call.
Despite the red card, North Texas went to half time with the match still scoreless through a tactical stalemate between Quill's shorthanded high press and Harkes' low block, with Greenville rarely attempting to venture out of their half but North Texas unable to find space to breakthrough.