The Aztexan

Time again for another soccer game! And if you think that was a fast turnaround from the Puerto Rico match last Saturday, you’d better hang on tight for the next month. Even if we just had Aztex soccer to look forward to, we’d be busy. But that other little soccer tournament in South Africa will be starting soon, too…

This midweek contest with the Portland Timbers may be a kind of last deep breath before the plunge for us fans, but these June games count just as much in the league standings as any others.

Though the Timbers were regular season champions last year (that is, they were in first place at the end of the season), they’ve gotten off to a rocky start in 2010. Their 3-3-3 record gives them 12 points from 9 games, and they’re winless since an April 29 victory over Vancouver at home. Their most recent result was a 1-1 draw to the Carolina Railhawks, also at home (match report/box score).

Portland, like the Vancouver Whitecaps (who we’ll see at House on Saturday), will move up from Divsion-2 to MLS next year. So they’ll be especially eager to start racking up some points, to build momentum heading into 2011.

The Aztex, of course, won’t be in any hurry to give up those points. They have a solid 5-point cushion over everyone else in the table (even accounting for teams that haven’t played as many games), but a home stand is the time to build up that padding even more.

The Aztex pregame piece says that although Eddie Johnson will be back, and Sullivan Silva is “probable”, we won’t see either defender Kieron Bernard or midfielder Lance Watson, who are both nursing their hamstrings.

As always, fans new and old are invited to gather at The Tavern before the game. With a 7:30PM kickoff, that gathering will start to happen around 5:30, possibly closer to 6:00, as people get off work. Alternative rock station 101X will be on hand once again, so you won’t want to miss the party! Go Aztex!