The Austin Aztex have kept the surprises coming early in their inaugural 2008 PDL season with a 3-0 win over the DFW Tornados Saturday night at Dragon Stadium in Round Rock. The win places the Aztex in 2nd place in the Mid South Division, 1 point behind the El Paso Patriots who have played two more games. It also keeps the Aztex in a strong position to qualify for a place in the prestigious Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

The Tornados were in a challenging spot coming into Saturday’s game. The squad was playing its initial game of the season in Laredo the night before, and they played the defending PDL Champion Heat to a tough 1-0 loss. They had to then travel north to meet the Aztex on a muggy Saturday night.

Following the auspicious debut of Austinite A.J. Godbolt last Saturday, the fans were treated to the debut of another local product, forward Andreas Cuero who currently plays for UNC-Charlotte. Cuero started the scoring for Austin in the 34th minute with an assist from Jorge Vega. The Aztex dominated the offensive play in the 1st half, taking 11 shots to the Tornados 2. But they also received 3 yellow cards and those cautions would end up affecting the game significantly. The Tornados began asserting themselves in the final 5 minutes of the half and went into the locker room having swung the game’s momentum.

The 2nd half began with the Tornados continuing their aggressive play. In the 62nd minute, Aztex defender Zack Pope, who had been an effective offensive as well as defensive threat, was issued a 2nd yellow and had to leave the field. The Aztex would have to play the remainder of the game in a man down position.

Austin coaches Suhnholz and Murphy brought Cuero out of the game at that time and inserted defender Kieron Bernard to thwart the Tornados man advantage. The surprising substitution, however, came in the 70th minute when forward Willy Guadarrama was brought in for Jorge Vega. It took less than 4 minutes for the speedy Guadarrama to score Austin’s first shorthanded goal on a feed from Josh Alcala.

The Aztex kept pressing the counterattacks as the Tornados tried to get on the board, and Guadarrama was injured as he was driving on goalie Brian Sarber. Midfielder Edgar Alvarez was brought in at the 84th minute and scored as regular time was expiring, on an assist from Robin Martinez.

The coming Memorial Day weekend is a critical one for the Aztex. As the Tornados did this week, the Aztex will travel to Laredo for a showdown with the Heat on Friday night and return home for a 2:30 PM Sunday contest with the New Orleans Shell Shockers, who come off a loss to the Baton Rouge Capitals on Sunday.

See also:

• USL match information
• pictures from the game

5/18/08