Soccer Watch

The Texas Longhorns gave up a third-minute goal to top-ranked UCLA on Friday, then played them as close in the second half as anyone has all year; chalk up an 0-1 loss as a big moral victory going into conference play. The 5-3-2 Horns open Big 12 play this Friday at 7pm, hosting undefeated and seventh-ranked Texas Tech, who, at 9-0, are one of just three D1 teams left in the country with a perfect record. Then, 17th-ranked West Virginia comes into Myers Stadium on Sun., Sept. 28, 1pm. As always, the games will be shown live on the Longhorn Network.

St. Edward's women dropped out of the national rankings, with a loss Sunday to Texas Woman's dropping them to 4-2 on the year. The Hilltoppers wind up their non-conference schedule this weekend, hosting Dallas Baptist (Fri., 4pm) and Midwestern State (Sun., 1pm). ... The St. Ed's men are 4-2 as well, with three road wins in the last six days. They don't play at home again until Oct. 11.

The Austin Aztex will hold their first USL PRO Invitational Camp this coming Wed.-Fri., Oct. 1-3 at Kelly Reeves Athletics Complex – a first chance for Head Coach Paul Dalglish to look at some players who might be on the squad in the Aztex's first pro season. The team also announced dates for two more tryouts in January; www.austinaztex.com for more info.

European Champions League play continues Tue.-Wed., Sept. 30-Oct. 1; various games live on Fox Sports at 1:30pm each day. Those will be the first games to incorporate a new concussion protocol announced Tuesday by FIFA, soccer's world governing body, that will stop games for three minutes while team doctors assess players who have received head injuries. "The incidents at the World Cup have shown that the role of team doctors needs to be reinforced in order to ensure the correct management of potential cases of concussion in the heat of competition,'' FIFA said. "The referee will only allow the injured party to continue playing with the authorization of the team doctor, who will have the final decision.''

MLS teams continued to thrive in CONCACAF Champions League group play this week, remaining undefeated against other continental opposition, and in first place in all four groups in which they are entered. Play concludes Oct. 21-23. ... It's EPL Double Derby Day on NBC Sports this Saturday: Liverpool-Everton at 6:45am, then North London's Arsenal-Tottenham at 11:30 (with Man U-West Ham in between at 9am).