The Aztexan

photo: me

Though their time on the field has come to an end, the Austin Aztex accomplished a lot this year, and had tremendous success. And though they couldn’t put together the scoreline they needed last night, they went out in fine form, reminiscent of their peak this summer.

It was yet another beautiful evening for pro soccer at House Park. The early sunset helped make it one of the coolest games of the year. The clear skies capped a perfect record of perfect weather at Austin home games this year. We’ve had the threat of rain a few times, but never a drop since the Aztex moved to House.

The crowd of 2,872 was a little on the light side. But for a playoff game that wasn’t included in the season ticket package, and given that some 70,000 people were down at Zilker Park for the Austin City Limits Festival, that’s not too shabby. Those in attendance were treated to a cracking good game, played with good skill and intensity on both sides of the ball.

The one downer in the supporters’ section was the guy with the euphonium. Props to the guy for dragging that big horn into the game. But as he continued to blow long, low tuneless notes on it throughout the game, I began to realize how bad the vuvuzelas must have been at live games in South Africa. Bring the horn back next year, bro – but play Reveille or some Sousa or something.

In the calm reflection of the day after, the taunts and jeers we direct at opposing players are usually faded and half-forgotten. Sometimes, however, there are exceptions: such is the case for Montreal’s Nevio Pizzolitto. The fact that this unsportsmanlike jerk wears the captain’s armband for the Impact is a serious blemish on the reputation of an otherwise worthy opponent. He seems to have more aptitude for the theatre than for sport; may he realize the wisdom of a career change soon.

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

• box score — USSF

  Attendance: 2,872

• Yesterday in the Playoffs: Rochester Loses the Hard Way; Montreal and Carolina Don’t — Eighty Six Forever
  

  The best viewing for the neutral came in Austin, Texas, when the Aztex tried to overturn a 2-0 series deficit against the Montreal Impact. Both teams are known for their scoring and it was the Montreal attack which struck early: in the fourth minute, big Ali Gerba somehow emerged from behind his marker on a Philippe Billy free kick and neatly defected Billy’s ball past Austin’s Miguel Gallardo.

• Aztex Record-Setting Season Comes to an End — AustinAztex.com
  

  At the open of the second half with Austin tied 1-1, Gerba gave his team a 2-1 lead in the game, but more importantly, a 4-1 aggregate lead in the series.

  Despite being with the Impact for only the second half of the season, Gerba’s total of 13 goals puts him at third in the league.

  Austin fought back valiantly all night and constantly pressured the Montreal defense causing Coach Marc Dos Santos’ heart to “skip a beat.”

  “What we did tonight was beat an excellent team,” he said. “Austin’s offense is a coach’s nightmare.”

• Montreal Defeat Austin, Head to Next Round of Playoffs — The NASL Fanatic
  

  Gerba put the Impact ahead again four minutes after intermission, as he beat Gallardo with a low shot after receiving a pass from Impact midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo. But the Aztex had no quit in them, and came back to tie in the 58th minute as USSF D2′s second leading 2010 scorer Eddie Johnson beat Jordan from a pass by midfielder Lawrence Olum. The hopes of the Aztex fans were growing again, as the team needed two goals in the final half hour of the game. Jordan had to leave the contest because of a groin injury, and was replaced by Srjdan Djekanovic, who played almost half the Impact’s regular season games. Djekanovic was able to shut down the Aztex the rest of the way, and veteran Eduardo Sebrango gave Montreal the win in the 89th minute with a high shot that became his sixth Impact’s game-winner.

• Austin Aztex end season with loss — Austin American-Statesman
  

  Montreal knocked Austin out of the playoffs with a 3-2 victory in the second leg of their opening-round series. The score pushed the aggregate to 5-2 in favor of the Impact, sending Montreal into the semifinals against Carolina and abruptly ending an Aztex season during which the team sat atop the league standings for much of the year.

  “I’m disappointed for the players because they’ve worked hard all season,” Aztex head coach Adrian Heath said. “My players have done me proud this year.”

• Video: Aztex-Impact Playoff Quarterfinals, 10-9 at Austin (3:17) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

So that’s it for 2010. As posted previously, there are some wrinkles to smooth out before we know for sure what league and which opponents the Aztex will face in 2011. Regardless, we can look forward to Coach Heath, the squad he assembles and the entire organization continuing to bring the excitement of live soccer to Austin.

Here’s to this season, next season, and many more to follow. Go Aztex!

photo: Montreal Impact/PEPE

Well, that’s not the first game result we wanted to see.

But it’s not the end yet, either. Remember, this Aztex team has one of the highest goal differentials in the league this season (13). The trick will be getting back to the groove they were in earlier in the year, when they were racking up all those goals. And they’ll have their chance to get that groove, Saturday night at House Park.

First, here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage from the first game, in Montreal:

• box score — USSF

  Attendance: 7,962

• Impact Repeat 2-0 Performance in Quarterfinal First Leg — AustinAztex.com
  

  Austin had few other chances in the latter part of the first half other than a volley by Johnson, but that was when Montreal really turned up the heat. The Impact came closest to getting on the board with a shot by Eduardo Sebrango that seemed destined for the back of the net, if not for a miraculous sprawling save by Gallardo to punch it wide. Gerba then sent the Impact into the half up by a goal.

• Montreal Defeats Austin, Carolina and NSC Minnesota Draw in Wednesday Night Playoff Action — NASL Fanatic
  

  “The effort from everyone was excellent today,” said coach Marc Dos Santos. “A 2-0 victory was a fair result in my opinion. They [Austin] put a little more pressure in the second half, but they were not able to create scoring chances against us. Defensively, we offered up another excellent performance. We now have to prepare for the next game and we must be willing to do whatever it takes to win the second leg. Nothing is won yet.”

Which brings us quickly, again, to the next Aztex match. The second leg of this playoff series will be played here in Austin, kicking off at House Park on Saturday evening at 7:30. Sure, ACL Fest is going on, but duck out for a couple of hours (you won’t miss anything, the band lineup is even lamer than usual this year). Pre-game festivities will begin, as always, at The Tavern around 5:30.

This is it! To keep from being eliminated, the Aztex will have to either win outright in regulation time by 3 goals, or at least win by 2 to force the contest to extra time, and then penalty kicks if necessary. Then they’ll go on to the semifinals, to face either the Carolina Railhawks or the NSC Minnesota Stars in the next round. They just need to find the back of the net 3 times first.

As mentioned above, this is a team that can get those goals. Three of the players on the league’s top 10 point leaders list play for Austin (Eddie Johnson, Maxwell Griffin and Jamie Watson). And we’ve seen goals from lots of other players besides them, as well.

These guys can do it on Saturday night. It will be an absolutely perfect night for live soccer in Austin. Come out and see it happen for yourself! Go Aztex!

This is it – playoff time!

All playoff rounds will be two-leg, home-and-away series, based on total aggregate goals across both games. Away goals are not worth more. The tie-breaker, if needed, will be extra time after the second game, followed by penalty kicks if necessary.

The first leg of this round between the Aztex and the Montreal Impact will be played tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 6 in Montreal. Kickoff is 6:30 CT. Join the Aztex organization, the Chantico’s Army supporters’ group and all of Austin’s soccer fans at Mister Tramps to watch tonight’s game.

The second leg will be Saturday night at 7:30, here at House Park. You can get half-off (almost) tickets to that game through Eversave, until midnight tonight.

Eddie Johnson and Jamie Watson will both be back on the roster for the playoffs, though Michael Callahan is still out after the blow to the head and 33 stitches he got on Sep. 25.

From Aztex site’s pre-game report:

Austin finished off the regular season with a 15-7-8 record and had the second most wins, the second least losses and second best goal differential of the 12 teams. The Aztex scored nine more goals than the next best offensive squad, the Carolina RailHawks, and sat atop the league table for the majority of the season before see-sawing with Rochester toward the end of the year.

The Aztex closed out the year with 12 points in their last 10 games to secure their place at the top half of the bracket, while Montreal’s sixth seed was the product of a slow start and furious finish. The Impact closed out the year 6-1-0, skyrocketing up the table to third in the NASL Conference standings, just two points behind Vancouver and four behind Carolina, who finished second in the league.

Contrasting Montreal’s furious finish with Austin’s recent run doesn’t look good. The Aztex dominated most teams for most of the season — including beating Montreal 2-0 in the season opener — but their results have not been nearly as strong lately. It’s hard to argue that the Impact don’t have the momentum heading in to these two games.

Will the red & white be able to rally? Will they pull out of the skid we’ve seen the last month or so? Will they claim the league trophy to make up for letting regular-season title slip away? We’ll start finding out tonight!

AustinAztex.com — Aztex Clinch Playoff Berth with Sunday Night’s Victory

A 3-2 victory over Carolina combined with the results from the rest of the USSF Division-2 Pro League over the weekend gave the Aztex a spot in the playoffs for the first time in their brief two-year history.

“I’m delighted that with nine games left in the regular season still, we’ve achieved our first goal for this year in reaching the playoffs,” Aztex President and Owner Phil Rawlins said. “I now look forward to pressing on with our next goal — bringing a championship to Austin.”

Read it all.

And mark your calendar: the playoff game date will be either Wed. Oct. 6, or Sat. Oct. 9. Pre-order tickets are on sale now: $15 for adults and $12 for children 15 & younger (tickets at the gate will be $20 and $15, respectively).