The Aztexan

Here's the thing about the Aztex home game against the Rochester Rhinos on Sunday night. Even though my team lost, I had such a good time that, somehow, oddly, I really wasn't that crushed by the defeat. The time at The Tavern before the match was great, marching to the match was good, the weather was perfect, the game was close and the teams well-matched. With the exception of the final score, I could get used to doing that all summer long.

The crowd at House Park was reported as 2,819. Though certainly lower than we'd like to see, I remain hopeful that continued marketing, directly from the team and by word-of-mouth, will get us closer to twice that by the end of the season.

Here's a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — Scorecrow.net


• Aztex suffer first loss — Austin American-Statesman
  

  Gallardo charged out of goal to meet him and the two collided , sending Hamilton head over heels and earning the Rhinos a penalty kick.
  
  Hoxie easily sent in the penalty, putting Rochester up a goal.
  
  "It was just poor judgment," Aztex coach Adrian Heath said of the turnover before the penalty. "Invariably, if you make poor decisions at the professional level, it's going to cost you."



• Rhinos Derail Aztex, 2-1 — AustinAztex.com
  

  Rochester goalkeeper Scott Vallow shined in the second half, facing nine Aztex shots, making three saves in the process. Austin came close to equalizing multiple times in the second 45, but were snuffed out by Vallow on each attempt.
  
  The game got exciting in stoppage time when Rochester’s Tyler Bellamy was given his second yellow card of the night, allowing a one-man advantage for the last two minutes of the match. Max Griffin came the closest to sending one home on a diving attempt at the near post on a cross, but could not sneak it past the keeper.



• Rhinos beat Austin, 2-1, to earn first victory of season and Bob Lilley Era — Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
  

  We also agreed that the officiating was spotty. [Rochester head coach] Lilley thought Gallardo should have been shown a red card when he wiped out Hamilton after the forward anticipated a back pass and stole the ball, earning Hoxie’s PK. When I asked if he thought Bellamy deserved red, he said he thought the first yellow the kid from Bonaventure was hit with wasn’t deserved. Before commenting on the red, he declined to discuss the officials more. In my opinion, I didn’t think that foul by Bellamy, out wide like that and not even in the penalty area, was worthy of red.



• Austin Aztex 1, Rochester Rhinos 2 :: Match Report — Chantico's Army
  

  They continued to attack an Aztex backline that was already down 2 of the 4 normal starters, with Kieron Bernard out as a result of a hamstring injury suffered in the previous week's AC St. Louis match, and Kevin Sakuda being out due to an ankle knock suffered in training. Gaffer Adrian Heath put in their places newly-acquired Yohance Marshall and moved Midfielder Lance Watson onto the backline. When speaking to folks later in the evening, it was the move of Watson out of the Midfield that hurt us the most.

The next Austin home game will be tonight, Wednesday, April 28: a fundraiser match between our Aztex and the Haitian National Team. Admission is free, though a donation to Haitian earthquake victims is requested. You can read more about why the Haitians are in central Texas in this post. Please do whatever you can to spread the word about this special game. As for regular matches, we'll start gathering about 2 hours before the game (that's 5:30 PM) at The Tavern.

After this international friendly, the Red & White are on the road for the next two weeks: at Minnesota next weekend, and Tampa Bay the following. We won't have them back at House Park until Sunday, May 16, when we host Division Two expansion team Crystal Palace Baltimore.

Labels: postgame, USL-1