Aztex Pick Up First Win, and More

The Austin Aztex got their first win last weekend, beating the 2008 Major League Soccer champions, the Columbus Crew, 1-0. I couldn’t make it to the game, but by all accounts, the home side largely dominated play and deserved the win, which came on English striker Eddie Johnson’s beautiful turn and finish, off a feed from Yordany Alvarez. Notice that’s a different striker pair from last week, which is a great sign. Another good sign: The Aztex continued to field an entirely different team in each half and got a strong performance from both lineups. The competition for playing time is going to be fierce once the regular season begins. The Aztex are on their first road trip this weekend, at Real Salt Lake playing in their snazzy new Rio Tinto Stadium. Then, as announced during the Crew game, the Aztex will host one final exhibition match: Friday, April 3, 7:30pm, against the Puerto Rico Islanders.

At press time on Tuesday, the Islanders are hosting Mexican giants Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal. The return leg in Mexico City is Tuesday, April 7, 9pm (live on FSC), just four days after the Islanders play their exhibition game here.

Aztex affiliate Stoke City dropped back into the relegation zone last weekend with a loss to Everton. Their next four games are head-to-head against the teams they’re fighting with to avoid the bottom three; this is the season, right here. And it has huge implications for us here in Austin, too: Will we still have a Premier League affiliate and be talking about games with Manchester United and Arsenal, or will it be the “League Championship” and Peterborough United and Plymouth Argyle?