Soccer Watch

The Austin Aztex battled to a pair of feisty come-from-behind draws last week, in their final regular-season trip to the Pacific North­west, to inch closer back to first place in the league. This Satur­day they can reclaim that lead in their next-to-last home game of the season. I didn't see the 1-1 draw Thursday with the Portland Timbers, but Sunday's Vancouv­er Whitecaps game was an inspiration. Shorthanded, with only three field substitutes available due to injuries and a red card suspension to key defender Kieron Bernard, the Aztex were lucky to still be in the game at halftime but looked the likeliest winner by the end, with Eddie Johnson the primary hero for a lovely headed goal, evening the score at 2-2 just after coming on in the 78th minute. By breaking even with two teams that will be in Major League Soccer next year, the Aztex pull within two points of first-place Rochester, but with three extra games to play. They can retake the lead with a win over the Minnesota Stars, Saturday, Sept. 4, 7:30pm at House Park, 13th & Lamar.

The Aztex will be the lone holdout, team President Phil Rawlins confirmed Wednesday, as nine other D-2 team owners submit a proposal to reorganize Division 2 pro soccer for next season as the North American Soccer League. Rawlins said the Aztex "will not be participating" in the NASL proposal and that "the bid fails to meet several of the [U.S. Soccer Federation's mandatory] criteria." Chief Executive Officer Djorn Buchholz added that he's confident the Aztex have kept all their options open and will be playing second division soccer next year, wherever that turns out to be. See the Chronicle Sports blog, the Score, at austinchronicle.com/thescore, for more.

The UT Longhorns remain undefeated after last weekend, getting goals from four different players in a 3-1 win over UT-San Antonio on Friday and a 1-1 draw with Southern California on Sunday. This week the Horns continue their nonconference schedule, playing Navy, Friday, Sept. 3, 7pm, and UC-Riverside, Sunday, Sept. 5, 7pm. Among the ticket deals available: $2 for UT faculty/staff for either game; police, fire, EMS, and military personnel free on Friday, and a $3 Web coupon (downloadable with this story online) for Sunday.

U.S. Men's national team coach Bob Bradley's contract was renewed this week for four more years; he's in charge through the 2014 World Cup.

MLS and adidas signed a partnership agreement Monday that will revive the MLS reserve league, which would seem to be in direct competition for player talent with the Aztex's Division 2.

It seems like the World Cup just ended, but amazingly, the national squads are back in action in earnest already, as Euro2012 qualifying is already under way. England-Bulgaria is this Friday, Sept. 3, 2pm, live on Fox Soccer Channel. There are several dozen other games as well, that day and on Tuesday, Sept. 7, many of them live online at ESPN3.com.

Aztex affiliate Stoke City is off to a rough start in the English Premier League, opening the season with three losses in a row. The good news: They only lost 2-0 to Chelsea, who'd won their first two games by identical 6-0 margins.