Ten-Man Aztex Hold On

The Austin Aztex fought the MLS-bound Portland Timbers to a 1-1 draw in front of some 15,000 fans Thursday night in Portland, despite playing the last half-hour a man down.

The Aztex had the worst possible start, with Timbers striker Chinedu "Bright" Dike taking advantage of an Aztex turnover in the fourth minute to score on a clean breakaway. The visitors evened it up in the 27th, with Sullivan Silva getting his first goal of the season on a feed from Eddie Johnson.
Ten minutes into the second half, Kieron Bernard was hit with his second yellow card of the game, leaving the Aztex a man down for the rest of the game. Defender Sam Brill, in his first league appearance of the year, was brought on for striker Max Griffin, and the Aztex had to scramble to stay even for last 35 minutes. All in all, a pretty good result.

Next up: a visit to the Vancouver Whitecaps Sunday afternoon, and the Aztex will be hurting on the back line against the top team in the NASL Conference. With Bernard serving his red-card suspension, and Jay Needham, probably the Aztex best central defender all season long, missing this trip after suffering a hamstring injury in last week's win over Carolina, they're left with just Yohance Marshall, pairing with either Brill or seldom-used Wes Allen in the middle. Another draw would probably be a great result for the Aztex' toughest road trip of the year; both Portland and Vancouver will be moving up to Major League Soccer next summer.

The Whitecaps game kicks off at 6pm Central time; remember, you can watch it live online at www.austinaztex.com or www.whitecapsfc.com, and there'll be a watch party at Mister Tramps, 8565 Research Blvd.