Despite the threat of rain earlier in the day, it turned out to be a beautiful evening at House Park Saturday night. Unfortunately the Aztex performance wasn’t quite as enjoyable.

Though they managed to get a point, Austin scored neither of the match’s two goals. And that was despite the state of Puerto Rico‘s defense. In addition to giving up an own-goal in the first minute, keeper Bill Gaudette had a shaky game, including trouble with his leg for the last third of the game.

The Red & White remain at the top of the league, but they’ll need to start scoring again soon if they want to stay there. They’ll visit the Rochester Rhinos, currently 6 points back but with a game in hand, this Friday.

The attendance, at least, was good: 4,050. That’s the second time we’ve broken 4,000 (not counting the Haiti benefit match and the Tampa Bay match where the stands were carpeted with free passes). There were a good number of vocal Islanders’ fans at the game; maybe it’s no coincidence that the other greater-than-4K game was the last time Puerto Rico came to town.

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

  • box score — USSF

  • Aztecs [sic] tie Puerto Rico Islanders — Austin American-Statesman

    After only 30 seconds, a Jamie Watson cross was misplayed by Puerto Rico defender Richard Martinez, who sent the ball in his own net, giving the Aztex an early lead.

    The scenario nearly repeated moments later when the a backpedaling Marco Velez almost sent an Austin throw-in into the Puerto Rico net. In the 12th minute, the Islanders came close to another own goal when both Puerto Rico’s David Horst and Austin’s Eddie Johnson challenged an aerial cross, but Puerto Rico keeper William Gaudette was able to recover before it went over .

    I cannot believe that our hometown paper, in the middle of the season, after soccer fever has swept the land, made this idiotic misspelling mistake with the team’s name. Sigh.

  • Aztex Grab Tie Against Puerto Rico; Remain in First Place — AustinAztex.com

    Johnson nearly put a second tally on the board for the Aztex when his powering shot was pushed away by Gaudette. Aztex captain Kevin Sakuda struck a 60-yard ball behind the Islanders’ backline for Johnson to run onto. When Johnson got into the box he was able to spin around and split a couple defenders before getting his shot off.

    Keon Daniel earned the equalizer in the 75th minute when he hit a laser from just outside of the Aztex goal box. The left-footed strike left Aztex goal keeper Miguel Gallardo with little chance to make a save.

  • Video: Aztex vs Puerto Rico Highlights (1:01) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

Austin heads out on a one-game road trip this week: they’ll play the Rochester Rhinos on Friday, 6:30 PM CT. They return to House Park to host AC St. Louis the following weekend, Saturday July 17.