Expectations were high two weeks ago when 16-year-old El Pasoan Ricardo Pepi made his professional debut for North Texas SC of the USL League 1.

An elite prospect in the FC Dallas Academy, by way of its satellite academy in El Paso, Pepi had been creating buzz for some time as a potential MLS and U.S. national team star. He scored 19 goals in eight games for Dallas' U17 team last year and became the first-ever signee for North Texas SC, the reserve, player-development squad for FC Dallas.

The only thing that seemed impossible for Pepi was to exceed all those expectations.

In his debut against Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, wearing the No. 9 of a star striker, he scored the first goal in club history in the 13th minute. Then he scored again in the 62nd minute. Then Pepi scored againin the 78th minute of North Texas SC's 3-2 win.

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"It was spectacular," coach Eric Quill said. "I wouldn't say we were shocked — he's in great form, he scored in every preseason game, so I thought he would score — but you never expect a hat trick."

Pepi certainly wasn't.

"I knew I'd score at least a goal, but you don't expect three," Pepi, who added a goal in North Texas' 1-0 victory over Forward Madison FC on Saturday, said of his debut. "I was excited. It motivates me to keep on scoring goals."

Pepi has plenty of motivation these days.

After playing for both the American and Mexican U16 teams, including scoring the goal for the United States team last year in a 1-0 win again Turkey, he is likely to play for the U.S. in the U17 World Cup this fall in Brazil.

He's been able to practice with FC Dallas' senior team and hopes to make his debut with them this year.

He moved from El Paso to Dallas three years ago, when he was a 13-year-old at Garcia-Enriquez Middle School in San Elizario. Moving to Dallas "was a tough decision," he said.

"All my family was there (in El Paso), my parents, my home was there," Pepi said. "But at the same time it was exciting to be able to join the academy and start something new."

He was spotted by former academy coach Luchi Gonzalez, now the head coach of FC Dallas.

"He had something different around the goal, and he's kind of growing into his body," Gonzalez told the Dallas Morning News. "What we see there is a brave, creative, mobile forward — because he also can play on the wing — that's got a really good sense of time and positioning around the goal to either score or set up his teammates."

Quill said, "He can score so many different ways, he's not one, two or three dimensional. He can score off the cross, he's good in open space, he's very good in combinations, his passing is fantastic, he's a great finisher, he can hurt you in so many different ways. You can't come up with one game plan, one scheme to stop him. He can find solutions."

Pepi also hasn't let stardom get to him.

"It's striking how humble he is," Quill said. "His parents raised him extremely well. For a 16-year-old to be that mature, with all the eyes on him — it would be easy to get a big head but he isn't like that."

What he has is big dreams.

"My goal is to keep on scoring, have at least 25 goals, and I want to play for the national team at the U17s," Pepi said. "As I get more experience I want to keep on learning, improving on little things, making my strong things a little better. Just grind every day."

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Quill said, "You'll see him play for very big clubs, possibly in Europe. He'll be on a lot of radars. At the U17 World Cup there will be a lot of eyes on him, a lot of agents, scouts for the big clubs."

As for the rest of this year, "He's going to get a lot more consistently good opponents each week. He'll be tested," Quill said. "People will be game-planning for him, it won't be easy."

Pepi, meanwhile, is already getting excited for the trip to Brazil this summer, as he has mostly decided that his future is with the U.S. team.

"I've never been" to Brazil, he said. "I'm looking forward to going and fighting for my country. ... The U.S. gave me better opportunities. I played U16s with both, the U.S. brought me up to the U17s. They showed more interest in me and my development."

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at 546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @bretbloomquist on Twitter.