The Austin Aztex lost to the Orlando U23s Sunday night in Ocala, Fla., ending their hopes of bringing home a national championship in their first season.
The Aztex started brightly, with Kekuta Manneh earning a penalty kick by being fouled in the box, and converting the PK in the 12th minute, much as he had in the semifinal win Friday night over Ocala. But Orlando answered just a minute later, took the lead just before halftime, then made it 3-1 with about 10 minutes left in the game. The Aztex pulled a goal back early in extra time, through Khiry Shelton on an assist from Tony Rocha. But as they continued to press forward looking for a desperation equalizer, Orlando converted a breakaway to finish things off.
It was the first time all season that the Aztex had surrendered more than two goals (they only allowed 13 in 16 regular season games, but gave up six in the two playoff games in Florida). Manneh and Shelton had been the goalscorers in Friday’s win as well. Losing to Orlando was a tough way to end the season (probably more for the fans than for the players), because there’s still a good deal of bitterness about how the original Aztex pulled out of Austin to relocate to Orlando. Sincere thanks to everyone on the team, and in the organization, for a great first season. Damn, it went by so fast …
This article appears in July 20 • 2012.