Austin Aztex Defeat Houston Dynamo
February 18, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Austin Aztex News Release
AUSTIN, Texas (Wednesday, February 18, 2015) - The Austin Aztex will take home their first win of the preseason after defeating Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo 1-0 Wednesday afternoon at Houston Amateur Sports Park.
The deciding goal came in the 86th minute when Chuy Cortes hit a low cross from the right side of the goal, where Raul Rodriguez hit the ball in for an own goal.
Aztex First Half Starters: Perales; Jobe, Hoffer, Golden, Ambrose; Rozeboom, Rocha, King; Gyorio, Taylor, Yates
The Dynamo opened the game with their first team looking to take control of the match with a quick flurry of attacks through set pieces and corner kicks, but were unable to force the ball past Aztex goalkeeper Devin Perales. The Aztex would settle and begin to possess the ball, working up the field and creating chances.
In the 14th minute, Dynamo forward Will Bruin, a USMNT forward, was sent through and tried to sneak the ball past Perales, but the Aztex goalkeeper remained composed as defenders Kyle Hoffer and Travis Golden converged on Bruin to force a low shot that was saved by Perales. Six minutes later, Boniek Garcia had his chance to score after Dynamo worked through the Aztex defense with a quick series of passes, but Perales once again came up with a save to deny Houston the goal they were searching for.
The Aztex worked offensively to bring the ball out wide through Mikey Ambrose and Bubacarr Jobe and to link them with Bryce Taylor, who worked to disrupt the Dynamo's backline. Taylor was nearly through for a one-on-one when he was targeted for a long ball in the 19th minute, but Raul Rodrigues was able to chase Taylor down and wrestle the ball away.
The Aztex nearly found an opening goal in the first half with a free kick opportunity on the right side of the field. Ambrose lined up to take the kick and curled in an attempt that found Kyle Hoffer, whose headed attempt sailed just over the crossbar.
Aztex Second Half Starters: Laurendi; Gunderson, Cruz, Roushandel, Fekete; Timbo, Guaraci, Mulamba; Jobe, Cuero, Cortes
The Aztex opened up the second half with a strong disposition to possess the ball and take the upper hand of the tight match. However, it was Aztex goalkeeper Cody Laurendi who had to step up to deny Bruin and Nathan Sturgis from finding the goal with several big saves early in the second half.
The Aztex back line worked to disrupt Houston and to prevent any type of clean shot on the Aztex goal, allowing Laurendi to absorb the ball as shots and crosses were blocked by the outstretched legs of Leone Cruz, Roushandel, and Timbo. Greg Mulamba also came up with a big block, denying Houston a second chance off of a corner kick and blocked a strong shot from the top of the penalty area. Mulamba was shaken up on the play and Aztex Head Coach Paul Dalglish opted to substitute Tony Rocha in for Mulamba and sending Ambrose back in for Jobe.
The substitutions paid dividends in the final 20 minutes as the Aztex were able to possess the ball and create space. Rocha, Ambrose, and Fekete began to exploit the space out on the left side while Andres Cuero and Chuy Cortes pressed high to disrupt the Dynamo.
The pressing paid off dividends in the 86th minute when Cuero and Cortes teamed up to corner the Dynamo backline deep in their own half, forcing a turnover. Cortes took the ball, curled his way toward the endline and hit a cross in which was deflected into goal by Dynamo's Raul Rodrigues for an own goal.
The Aztex back line would prove to hold strong as the Aztex held on to win 1-0.
The Aztex conclude the opening stage of their preseason preparations, where they faced three MLS teams in five days.
The Aztex will return to preseason action when they host Southern Methodist University at Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex on Saturday February 21st at 4:00 p.m. The SMU game is free and open to the public to attend.
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