The Austin Aztex announced five more players for their PDL squad this morning, including a couple of collegiate defenders, and three midfielders, including one with national team experience. See press release here.
By my count, that brings the announced roster to 12, and a pretty good possible starting lineup:
Goalkeeper
• Michael Lisch, 21, goalkeeper (Westlake High, Wake Forest) The 6’4″ keeper, playing in probably the top soccer conference in the country, started every game last season as a junior, including a win in the NCAA tournament in which he blocked three penalty kicks in a shootout win over South Carolina.
Defenders
• Ross Kelly, a defender out of Houston, played on the PDL Aztex in 2009 while starring at Coastal Carolina University.
• Nick Miele, 19, is a sophomore defender for the University of New Mexico. The 6-foot-4-inch Miele will join Ross Kelly in the middle of the Aztex defense.
• Zack Pope, 26, a local product, was a fan favorite with the original Aztex, and always impressed as an attacking force on the wing; he’s most recently been coaching at Southwestern.
• Wesley Curtis, 20, is a defender at Michigan State University and is originally from McKinney, Texas. Known for possessing great speed and quickness, Curtis trained in 2011 with the reserve squad for Los Estudiantes de La Plata in Argentina.
Midfield
• Dillon Powers, 21, is a talented and experienced midfielder in his junior year at Notre Dame. He started all 18 matches in 2011, scoring a goal and four assists, and was second-team all-Big East, and all-Great Lakes Region. The Plano native has also played with the U.S. U-20 squad; he was in the 2009 World Cup, and was tournament MVP at the 2010 Milk Cup.
• Scott Luedtke, 21, is from Dallas. He is a versatile player at CSU Bakersfield, and will slot into a defensive or midfield role.
• Jesus ‘Chuy’ Sanchez, 21, is an attacking midfielder with one of the highest assists rates in Division-I NCAA soccer at CSU Bakersfield.
• Mohamed Diallo, 21, is a Senegal native who’s an attacking midfielder at Corcordia University.
• Pedro Pereira, 23, midfield (Leander High, Oklahoma Baptist) A native of Brazil, Pereira played for the 2009 Aztex PDL team.
• Kristopher Tyrpak, 19, midfield (Dripping Springs High, Houston Baptist) Tyrpak was Atlantic Conference Rookie of the Year in 2010, and his team’s leading scorer.
Attackers
• Alesi Osorio, 20, attacker (LBJ High, East Tennessee State) Osorio was all-district at LBJ, who went 45-14 and won a district title during his four years there.
The Aztex season kicks off this Saturday, May 5 against the Texas Dutch Lions in Woodlands, Texas. The home opener is Saturday, May 19 at 7:30pm at House Park against the El Paso Patriots.
The Aztex are in the United Soccer League’s PDL Mid South Division.
Sat, May 5, 7:30pm – Austin at Texas (Woodlands)
Fri, May 11, 7:30pm – Austin at West Texas
Sat, May 12, 9:00pm – Austin at El Paso
Sat, May 19, 7:30pm – El Paso at Austin House Park
Thu, May 24, 7:30pm – Texas at Austin House Park
Fri, June 1, 7:30pm – New Orleans at Austin House Park
Sat, June 2, 7:30pm – New Orleans at Austin House Park
Sat, June 9, 7:30pm – Laredo at Austin House Park
Sat, June 16, 7:30pm – El Paso at Austin House Park
Tue, June 19, 8:15pm – Austin at Laredo
Fri, June 22, 7:30pm – Laredo at Austin House Park
Wed, June 27, 8:15pm – Austin at Laredo
Sat, June 30, 7:00pm – Austin at New Orleans
Fri, July 6, 7:30pm – West Texas at Austin House Park
Sun, July 8, 9:00pm – Austin at El Paso
Sat, July 14, 7:00pm – Austin at New Orleans
This article appears in April 27 • 2012.