Another great night at House Park! A huge reported crowd of 5,800 was on hand (thanks in part to bunches of free tickets) for a beautiful evening, an exciting game and plenty of goals.

AC St. Louis didn’t play like they had already been eliminated from the playoffs. Though getting the worst in the end, they did put up a fight, including coming back from a two-goal deficit before halftime.

The win, along with Miami FC once again getting the better of first-place contender Rochester Rhinos, puts the Aztex back at the top of the standings. Ironically, earning that 1st seed in the playoffs would ensure a first-round pairing with 8th seed Puerto Rico Islanders. With Austin’s 1-1-2 record against them this season, they are exactly the opponent that fans didn’t want first.

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

  • box score — USSF

  • Aztex Reclaim League’s Top Spot With 4-2 Win Over AC St. Louis — AustinAztex.com

    Austin came out of the gate with a firestorm on St. Louis goalkeeper Alec Dufty, who was able to ward the Aztex off for only the first 14 minutes. After a corner kick was given to the Aztex, Jamie Watson drove a ball deep into the box that was headed by Jay Needham and punched out. On the rebound, Michael Callahan lined up and drilled the shot past Dufty, who could do nothing to stop it after the initial diving save. The goal was Callahan’s first points of the season and first career goal for the Aztex.

  • Austin Tops USL Conference, Carolina Tie With Vancouver for NASL Conference Lead — NASL Fanatic

    Aztex’ Coach Adrian Heath must have had the right message for his players at halftime, though. Five minutes into the second half, forward Maxwell Griffin beat Dufty with a chipped shot for his ninth goal of the season. Austin pretty well had the run of play in the second half as the AC St. Louis team looked to run out of steam, although the big crowd at House Park had to be a bit worried, considering Austin’s penchant for giving up late goals recently. Former Crystal Palace Baltimore forward Randi Patterson put their fears to rest in stoppage time, though, as he beat Dufty one on one to give the Austin an insurance score and the win.

  • Pair of unlikely goals help send Aztex over AC St. Louis — Austin American-Statesman

    With the score even at two goals a piece in the 51st minute, [Max] Griffin chased down a Yordany Alvarez pass . As a St. Louis defender bore down on him, Griffin chipped a shot at a tough angle from more than 20 yards out that hung in the air and floated just over the fingertips of St. Louis keeper Alec Duffy for a goal that put the Aztex up for good in a 4-2 victory over St. Louis.

    “Right when I got the ball, I looked up and saw (Duffy) take a couple steps off his line and said, ‘Why not just try it?’\u2009″ Griffin said.

    [Editor's rant: bless Colby White for writing these pieces, and bless the Statesman for running them, but I can't turn a blind eye to the shoddy editorial quality anymore. Take this bit I've quoted, for example. Spaces around punctuation, "a piece" vs. "apiece", computer character artifacts ("\u2009") and last but certainly not least -- St. Louis' goalkeeper's name is Alec Dufty. I'd expect better from my middle-schooler's language arts homework, let alone the website for Austin's daily newspaper.]

  • AC St.Louis Falls 4-2 to Austin — Floodplain Footy

    Austin commanded the second half with an early 50th minute goal, and a score in extra time. By that point St. Louis was riddled with injuries as Troy Cole, Zach Bauer, Jack Traynor, Mike Ambersley, and Brad Stisser all encountered problems.

    “The injuries just made run out of juice in the second half,” said [St. Louis coach] Schilly. “The pace of the first half was as fast as we have seen and played all year. We certainly made our chances and could have been up as much as 3-0 early on. Austin then scores on their first two chances. I hate losing, but I am happy with this performance. It was a hell of game.”

  • Video: Austin Aztex 4, AC St. Louis 2, 9-25-10 Highlights (4:59) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

    Update: The highlights video has been re-edited to include the 3rd (my personal favorite) and 4th goals. This video, unfortunately, doesn’t capture two of the loveliest goals we’ve seen at House this year; there’s a glimpse of Callahan’s rocket shot, but no trace of Griffin’s beautifully floated chip shot. And oddly, there’s footage from another game entirely: one of Eddie Johnson‘s goals against Minnesota on Sep. 4. But the interviews are good (and from the right game), and I do like that big white “Come And Take It” flag that’s carried by behind Miguel at around the 4:07 mark.

Next up, the end-of-season whirlwind begins. The Aztex hit the road for two more quick games to finish up the season: Friday the 1st in Carolina, and Sunday the 3rd in Montreal.

Then they’ll turn around again a few days later and play the first playoff game on the 6th or 7th, and then back to Austin for the second playoff game on the 9th or 10th. (That’s right, I said “9th or 10th”. Although everything I’ve seen to date, including the ticket sales page, says the 9th, rumor has it that if we do face Puerto Rico, the home game might wind up on the 10th.)