Austin's Eddie Johnson Credit: Photo courtesy of Austin Aztex

A little more than 2,000 people braved a frigid, windy Saturday night to see the USL-1 Austin Aztex play their first game ever, a 2-0 exhibition loss to Major league Soccer’s New England Revolution. With the Aztex using two entirely different squads in the two halves (and both of them looking a tad nervous, especi­al­ly at the start), the home side still acquitted itself well: A couple of glaring (if wind-related) defensive lapses led to the goals, but all in all, we matched up pretty well with a team that looks a lot better on paper. Next up, the Houston Dynamo, this Saturday, March 7, 7:30pm at Nelson Field. With two different Dynamo supporters groups reportedly coming in for the game, and given the natural geographic rivalry, this could be one of the better game atmospheres of the season, even if it is still an exhibition.

The Dynamo‘s regular season doesn’t start for another two weeks, but their international campaign is already over – they were knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League by a 3-0 loss Tuesday to Atlante in Cancun, Mexico.

While all four MLS entries are now out of the continental championship, both USL-1 qualifiers – the Montreal Impact and Puerto Rico Islanders – are still alive at press time. The Islanders have just advanced to the final four, and the Impact carry a 2-0 first leg lead down to Santos Laguna in Torreon (Thursday, 9pm on Fox Soccer Channel).

The Aztex host Puerto Rico May 8 and 29, and Montreal on July 25.

Aztex affiliate Stoke City dropped into the English Premier League’s relegation zone over the weekend, then climbed back out again Wednesday with a 2-0 win over the Bolton Wanderers. With 10 games left in the season, Stoke sits 15th out of 20, a couple of points out of the drop, with at least half the league still in the danger zone.

European Champions League play continues next Tuesday-Wednesday, with all four English teams holding an advantage going into the Round of 16 return leg. ESPN will show games both days at 1:30pm, though the exact programming still isn’t set.

This article appears in February 27 • 2009.

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