The Aztexan

The Aztex head out on the road this weekend for another Friday/Sunday weekend. The first stop will be Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium, where they'll face the 4th-place Puerto Rico Islanders on Friday (June 12). That game will be nationally televised on Fox Soccer Channel; kickoff is 7:00 PM CT. The Austin Aztex FC is hosting a watch party at Cuatros on 24th Street, where the game will be shown on the "Cuatron", the giant wall-sized TV made up of smaller TVs.

The Islanders are coming off a double-header weekend at home last weekend against a team with one of the worst records in the league, the Cleveland City Stars. The Islanders were able to win one 2-1 (box score) but only tied the other (box score). The last time the Aztex faced Puerto Rico was here at Nelson, a game the home team won, 3-1.

Sunday's game will be against Miami FC, the first time these two teams have faced each other. The Blues are struggling at the bottom of the standings, though they've only played 7 games so far, compared to 9 to 11 for other teams. In fact, aside from narrowly getting a 2-1 win over amateur side Lynch's Irish Pub FC in Open Cup play on Tuesday, Miami will not have played a league match in more than three weeks. That game, on May 23, was a nil-nil draw with the Minnesota Thunder, in Minnesota (match report / box score).

Though they'll still be missing striker Noel-Williams to injury and midfielder Alex Tapp is unable to travel due to visa issues, the Aztex will have some reinforcements:

The roster has been bolstered thanks to the return of Real Salt Lake’s Jean Alexandre to the roster. Alexandre was brought to the team for the Aztex’s last game against Puerto Rico on a short-term free loan. Alexandre’s new loan will run through the Miami game and is again free, meaning bringing him back to Austin is just a matter of paperwork.

“It’s tough,” Alexandre said after his first game with the Aztex. “They’re going through a bad stretch right now. That happens to every team. ... It’s better it happens early instead of later in the season.”

Alexandre’s return won’t be the only addition to the team since the Montreal trip. Colorado Rapids midfielder Ciaran O’Brien was brought in on a free loan for the remainder of the season and Jeff Harwell is turning heads after being called up from the U23 squad. Kyle Helton was also called up, but was brought back down Wednesday since the U23 team is having their own injury issues.

The Red & White, though not quite in the cellar, are still struggling in the middle of the table, and could definitely use some points from this trip. They'll return to Austin on Tuesday to face the El Paso Patriots in the 2nd round of the U.S. Open Cup, followed by the last league home game for a while, the Carolina Railhawks next Friday, June 19.

Update 10:30AM: due to severe weather in Dallas yesterday, the team's having a heck of a time getting to Puerto Rico.

Labels: gameday, USL-1