Austin Aiming for First Place with Victory

Published on September 3, 2010 under U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
Austin Aztex News Release


AUSTIN, Texas (www.austinaztex.com) - Only two points separate Austin and Rochester for first place in the USSF D-2 Pro League - a margin that Austin can erase tomorrow with a victory over the NSC Minnesota Stars at 7:30 p.m. at House Park.

The Aztex are currently two points back of the idle Rhinos with three games in hand on the club from New York. Meanwhile, Minnesota currently resides in a tie for the eighth and final seed in the fight for the playoffs with FC Tampa Bay, but is nine goals behind in goal differential.

In their only matchup this season, the Aztex took care of the Stars, 2-1, in Minnesota in the Aztex second road contest of the year. The May 1 game was won with late goals by both Eddie Johnson and Jamie Watson after Minnesota's Brian Cvilikas opened the scoring in the first half.

Cvilikas leads the Stars in scoring this season with five goals, his last coming in stoppage time to give Minnesota a point for the draw against AC St. Louis to start the month.

Minnesota comes into the match on a two-game losing streak, but ran off five straight draws prior to that. This season, the Stars are 3-5-4 on the road and facing a team who is 8-2-3 at House Park. Austin played to two draws in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend and won its prior game against Carolina, 3-2.

Saturday's match against NSC Minnesota can be seen streamed live on the Aztex website: www.austinaztex.com. Following the match, Austin leaves town for a three-game road trip at Puerto Rico, FC Tampa Bay and AC St. Louis. Austin is 1-1-1 against these three clubs on the road this year, but 4-1-3 against them overall.

Game Notes:

Series History: Austin is 1-0-0 against NSC Minnesota all-time, who is in its first year of existence. NSC Minnesota joined the league after the Minnesota Thunder folded over the offseason.

A Lot of Offense: Between the two teams, there have been 23 players to score this season. Eddie Johnson leads the Aztex 12 scorers with 11 goals, while Brian Cvilikas leads the Stars with five. Both Cvilikas and Johnson scored when the teams met in May.

Race to the Top: A win by the Aztex tonight puts them back in first place, a point ahead of Rochester. The Rhinos are off this weekend and come back for games against Miami FC (twice), FC Tampa Bay and AC St. Louis. Austin has AC St. Louis (twice), Montreal, FC Tampa Bay, Carolina and Puerto Rico left.

Golden Boot: With a goal last weekend in Portland, Johnson moved to within four goals of Portland's Ryan Pore for the top scorer in the league. Pore has four more games to play. Helping Out a Teammate: Six Aztex have at least four assists this season. Only five players in the entire league have more (including Max Griffin, 5).

More Help on the Way: The Aztex made another roster move on Thursday, adding midfield Tsuyoshi Yoshitake on loan from Crystal Palace Baltimore. Though Yoshitake won't be able to join the club on the pitch until September 8, he'll remain with the club through the end of the regular season and into the playoffs.

Injury Report: Stephan Campbell, Jay Needham and Lawrence Olum remain out of the lineup with hamstring and groin injuries. Sullivan Silva (knee) and Joey Worthen (hamstring) will join the trio on the injured list this weekend after getting injured this week in training.

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U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from September 3, 2010


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