The
Austin Aztex have their final regular season home game of the 2010 season this weekend, hosting AC St. Louis
Saturday, Sept. 25, at 7:30pm. So if you've been meaning to catch a game, there is, literally, no time like the present. And consider it a warm-up for the playoff opener in two weeks (see below). Festivities start at 6pm down the block at the
Tavern, with fans parading to the stadium at 7pm. Wear red. Be loud... The Aztex had a disappointing two-game road trip last week, giving up stoppage-time goals both times, for a 1-1 draw at Tampa Bay and a 2-1 loss in St. Louis – each time losing the opportunity to retake first place in the league. Still, they have their fate in their own hands – a point behind the Rochester Rhinos but with three games to play, while the Rhinos only play twice...
Eddie Johnson, who scored against St. Louis, is one goal behind Portland's Ryan Pore for the league scoring lead.
Maxwell Griffin is in third place and
Jamie Watson is tied for fourth on the league points list... With just two weekends left in the season, the
playoff picture is finally starting to shape up. The Aztex will almost certainly finish first or second in the USL conference, which will be a first or third seed in the eight-team playoffs (NASL conference leader Vancouver will be seeded second). At the other end of the draw, it looks like the bottom three seeds will be Puerto Rico, Montreal, and Minnesota, in some order, so the Aztex will face one of those three – on the road,
Wednesday, Oct. 6, and here, for the Aztex's
first-ever home playoff game,
Saturday, Oct. 9, 7:30pm.
The UT Longhorns got their best win in years on a rainy Monday night – beating 10th-ranked Brigham Young University, 1-0, on a goal less than two minutes into the game by Leah Fortune, from a long diagonal cross from Sophie Campise. Next up: the Big 12 openers this weekend at Nebraska and Colorado (who just upset UCLA). And here's a deal: call 232-3865 to order a bundle pack for the next home game (Friday, Oct. 1, 7pm, against UW-Milwaukee) and for $5 you'll get a game ticket and a Texas Athletics T-shirt.
Go figure. The St. Edward's women (5-0-1) dropped from No. 6 in the country to No. 11, based on a 1-1 draw Friday against previously fourth-ranked West Texas A&M. The Hilltopper men, meanwhile, split a pair, staying unbeaten in the Heartland Conference but falling big, 6-1, to second-ranked Midwestern State. Two big conference games this week: St. Mary's, Friday, Sept. 24, 4pm and Texas A&M-International, Sunday, Sept. 26, 1pm.
CONCACAF Champions League play continues the next two Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursdays, with most of the games on FSC, Galavision, or TeleFutura... The European Champions League group stage continues this Tuesday-Wednesday, Sept. 28-29, with selected games on ESPN, 1:45pm.
