The Aztexan

Tonight sees the start of the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history, dating from 1914. First round games are being played all over the country today (see the full bracket). Though the Aztex U23s failed to qualify from the PDL, the USL-1 Aztex, like all U.S. USL-1 teams, automatically qualify.

Tonight we host the Mississippi Brilla, of the PDL. Last year they were rivals of the Aztex U23s in the Midsouth Division, but with the addition this year of Texas expansion teams West Texas United and Rio Grande Valley, the Brilla and the New Orleans Jesters (formerly the Shell Shockers) were moved to the Southeast Division.

Currently, the Brilla are virtually tied for first place in their division, having the exact same 4-1-2 record as the Bradenton Academics, but slightly worse off on goal differential (+10 vs +14). Mississippi is coming off a 1-1 draw at home against the Panama City Pirates (match report / box score).

Despite the glut of league games this month — the 2 against Charleston Battery last weekend, the 2 on the road this coming weekend, etc. — it seems that Aztex head coach Adrian Heath intends to take the tournament seriously:

“The Cup competitions in England and Europe mean so much to the clubs and to the supporters,” Heath said. “[Here,] maybe they approach the game differently. ... I just think one or two might take it a bit more seriously.”

As with any open cup competition, the possibility of an upset is a major theme. Mississippi will be coming into town, having fought hard to secure their spot, hoping to knock out the higher-level competitor. That's how the Aztex U23s were last June, when they earned their shot at the cup, losing on penalties to the now-defunct Atlanta Silverbacks. (We saw a big, skilled striker from Atlanta that night at Dragon Stadium: New York Red Bull Mac Kandji.)

Tickets for tonight's game are just $15, $10 for kids 12 & under. Kickoff is at 7:30, so the pre-match fan gathering at the Nomad will start at 5:00. If you're in Austin, you should come out and bolster the midweek home crowd; it's bound to be a great game. If you can't make it to the game, it will be shown live (and free, as always) on USLLive.com. You can also follow along on USOpenCup.com's scoreboard page (or, apparently, on my Twitter feed; I just noticed they have that listed there too!).

Labels: gameday, U.S. Open Cup, USL-1