Match Report | St Louis CITY2 Comes Back to Draw Houston Dynamo 2 and Extend Unbeaten Streak to Five Matches

St Louis CITY2 extended their unbeaten streak to five matches with a 2-2 draw against Houston Dynamo 2 before falling 3-1 in the penalty shootout. Houston found the back of the net early in the 17th minute and maintained its 1-0 lead into halftime. Just two minutes into the second half, Houston scored again to make it 2-0. St. Louis pulled one back through Nighte Pickering with assists from Riley Lynch and Miguel Perez in the 70th minute. Fifteen minutes later, Zack Lillington tied the match at 2-2, sending it into a penalty shootout. 

CITY2 will host North Texas SC at Energizer Park next Friday, August 28, for the teams’ final meeting of the season. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT.  

Postgame Notes  

• Nighte Pickering scored his third goal of the season. Pickering has now scored in back-to-back matches for CITY2, registering three goals over that span 

• Zack Lillington scored his second goal of the season 

• Riley Lynch recorded his eighth assist of the year 

• Miguel Perez earned his first assist of 2026 

• CITY2 extended their unbeaten streak to five matches 

Goal-Scoring Plays  

HOU: Austin Brummett, 17th minute – Austin Brummett scored with a right footed shot from the central position outside the box to the bottom right corner. 

HOU: Miguel Perez (own goal), 48th minute – Miguel Perez scored an own goal from the central position outside the box. 

STL: Nighte Pickering (Riley Lynch, Miguel Perez), 70th minute – Nighte Pickering scored with a left footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner. 

STL: Zack Lillington, 85th minute – Zack Lillington scored with a header from the center of the box to the lower left central zone. 

Scoring Summary  

HOU: Austin Brummett, 17’ 

HOU: Miguel Perez (own goal), 48’ 

STL: Nighte Pickering (Riley Lynch, Miguel Perez), 70’ 

STL: Zack Lillington, 85’ 

Lineups  

STL: GK Colin Welsh; D Owen Jorgensen, D Zack Lillington, D Tahir Reid-Brown (Chris Pearson, 46’); M Trip Clancy (Patrick McDonald, 76’), M Miguel Perez, M Tyson Pearce (Jemone Barclay, 86’), M Riley Lynch; F Zach Zengue, F Nighte Pickering (Yu Ota, 86’), F Jack Wagoner © (Lorenzo Cornelius, 61’) 

Substitutes Not Used: GK Nate Martinez, D Emiliano Chavez, D Sidney Paris, M Alex Jundt 

TOTAL SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 18; OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 3 

HOU: GK Logan Erb; D Reese Miller (Vitor Andre, 61’), D Vinicius Silva (Noah Betancourt, 72’), D Chibuike Ukaegbu, D Daniel Barrett; M Gustavo Dohmann ©, M Matthew Arana (D’Alessandro Herrera, 85’); M Jahmani Bell, M Samir Mohammad, M Mattheo Dimareli (Alan Martins, 72’); F Austin Brumett (Arthur Sousa, 60’) 

Substitutes Not Used: GK Roman Kerimov, M Tristan Cottle, F Mamadi Jiana, F Myles Gardner 

TOTAL SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 1 

Referee: Joe Surgan 

Assistant Referees: Tyler Samburgh, Brendan Sweetman 

Fourth Official: Gustavo Turmero 

Venue: Energizer Park