Aztex Bow Out of U.S. Open Cup

Speed kills. It killed the Austin Aztex last night, as the Houston Dynamo, probably the top team in the MLS, knocked the Aztex out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 2-0 win at Nelson Field. Halftime sub Corey Ashe scored the decisive goal on a rebound off a diving Sam Reynolds save in the 71st minute, then got free down the left flank for a gorgeous cross into the box that Dominic Oduro converted into the clincher in the final minute of the game.

In truth, Ashe and Brian Mullan – whom he came in for after the first half – were getting open runs up the sidelines pretty much at will. I'm a big fan of wing defender Josh Alcala, but he and Marshall Yohance were getting torched all night long. The central defenders and midfielders stood strong, but that wide game (and the Aztex's lack of one, with the exception of Jeff Harwell) was the difference between the teams. The Aztex's lack of a wide game, and of imagination in the attacking third of the field, has been their downfall for much of the season.

But, sorry, I don't mean to be negative; this was a great effort against a very, very good team. The game was played on fairly even terms for the most part – in fact it could easily have gone the other way, if what looked like a fairly obvious penalty against Harwell in the first half had been called.

Elsewhere, the Seattle Sounders edged the Portland Timbers, 2-1, before 16,000 fans in Portland, to even the score for Major League Soccer in the U.S. Open Cup round of 16: four wins for MLS, and four wins for the upstart United Soccer Leagues. The quarterfinals are next Tuesday: Houston at Charleston, D.C. United at Harrisburg, Rochester at Wilmington, and Seattle at Kansas City.