Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., Sept. 4, 2015
The Austin Aztex play their final home game of the season this Saturday, Sept. 5 – their first game ever against Seattle Sounders 2. And they're pulling out a variety of stops for the season finale. It's Youth Sports Appreciation Night, with free admission for all youth sport participants 18 and under wearing their jersey. In addition, the Aztex will wear special edition pink jerseys in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off during the game with the proceeds benefiting Komen Austin and the Aztex Soccer Foundation. And, any unused tickets from previous games this season will be accepted at this match. Kickoff is 7:30pm at Kelly Reeves Stadium, 10211 W. Parmer, and the Aztex and Capital Metro are offering free train rides on game day; visit www.austinaztex.com/capmetro to print the free pass, and check the full MetroRail schedule at www.capmetro.org. The Aztex's playoff hopes were finally extinguished last week, in a 2-0 loss at first-place Oklahoma City.
The UT Longhorns lost 2-0 to No. 5 North Carolina last Friday night, then played No. 15 Ohio State dead even in a scoreless tie on Sunday. Goalkeeper Abby Smith came up big again, and remains the Horns' top (and only) scorer through three games. The Horns continue their tough non-conference this weekend in California, playing UC-Santa Barbara Friday, and UCLA Sunday.
There are Euro 2016 Qualifiers this week, every day Thursday through Tuesday, Sept. 3-8... The U.S. men take on Peru at 6:30pm, Friday, Sept. 4 (FS1), and Brazil at 7pm, Tuesday, Sept. 8 (ESPN2). Longtime U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard will be back in the roster, but as backup to Brad Guzan, for now.
