The Aztexan

It was another great night at House Park. It was a beautiful evening; the bad weather that I hinted at before the game was nowhere to be seen. The attendance was a solid, regular-season high of 3,569.

After Baltimore stiffed the Timbers in Portland on Thursday, fan expectations of the Red & White routing the visitors had been dialed back somewhat. In the end, the Aztex win was well-earned. Baltimore played a somewhat rough game (earning four yellows, vs. zero for the home team), but they showed determination, skill and pace. Especially pace; a couple of those guys really have some speed.

The most spectacular goal of the night wasn’t, ultimately, a goal at all. Aztex scoring machine Jamie Watson was in the right place at the right time for that elusive, crowd-pleasing classic: the bicycle kick. And though he nailed it, and the ball wound up in the back of the net, it was not to be. What happened wasn’t completely clear, but the consensus seems to be that Lawrence Olum, in an effort to secure the goal despite his offside position, got his head on it as it went by. There was no mistaking the ref calling the goal off, but it was an exciting moment, nonetheless.

This win puts Austin at the top of the league standings, with 13 points from 6 games (4-1-1). We’re just a fifth of the way through the season, with 24 more league games yet to go, but that’s sure a nice start.

Because the odd USSF-D2 schedule makes for an uneven number of games played by each team so far — Austin with 6, Minnesota with 8 and Puerto Rico with just 3, for example — IndyWeek.com’s David Fellerath drew up an “adjusted” league table, based on average points per game. Happily, the Aztex are at the top of that table, too, with 2.17. (At this point last year, with a 1-2-3 record to start the season, that average would have been exactly 1.)

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

• box score — USSF

• Griffin’s goal lifts Aztex over Baltimore — Austin American-Statesman
  [Note that the headline is wrong: Griffin got the assist, but it was Jamie Watson's goal.]

  “All the things we were bad at and were guilty of doing late in games (last season), we’re now the complete opposite,” Aztex head coach Adrian Heath said. “I don’t sit there like I did last year thinking ‘They’re going to score. They’re going to score.’ “

• Aztex Take Over First Place With 2-1 Win — AustinAztex.com
  

  Jamie Watson, who leads the team in goals scored, blasted the shot that gave the Aztex (4-1-1) the go-ahead goal in the 70th minute off a pass from first-year forward Maxwell Griffin. Griffin’s assist came on a cross from the right side of the box that narrowly missed a few other feet to find its way to Watson who left no doubt on the shot past the Crystal Palace (1-4-1) goalkeeper.

• Video: Aztex in first place after win — News 8 Austin

Next up for the Aztex: another home game this Wednesday, May 19, hosting FC Tampa Bay at 7:30PM. Austin drew with the Rowdies in Tampa just over a week ago, so we’ll see whether a home field advantage will give our boys enough of an edge to boost that points-per-game stat a little higher.