The Austin Aztex lost 3-1 in Puerto Rico on Saturday, with an early Jamie Watson penalty shot offset by three Islanders goals in the second half; this week the Aztex are at Tampa Bay (Thu., Sept. 16, 6:30pm) and St. Louis (Sat., Sept. 18, 7:10pm), needing at least one win to retake the league lead. You can watch all road games at www.austinaztex.com or on the host team’s website or at Mister Tramps watch parties (8565 Research)… The Aztex’s final regular-season home game is next Saturday, Sept. 25, 7:30pm, against St. Louis… Outstanding news: The Aztex have signed head coach Adrian Heath to a new three-year contract extension running through the 2013 season.
The Puerto Rico Islanders are competing in the CONCACAF Champions League as well, along with four Major League Soccer teams, four Mexican teams, and seven other Central American and Caribbean champions; group play is Tuesday through Thursday, this week and the next two. Most of these games are on FSC, Galavision, or TeleFutura… The European Champions League group stage started this week; no big surprises, but a great showing by Spanish teams: three wins by a combined 10-goal margin. The six-game group stage continues through Dec. 8. Full results online.
The Texas Longhorns got a split on a very tough road trip last weekend – beating No. 22 William & Mary 4-0, after losing 4-0 to 12th-ranked Virginia. It was enough to vault the 5-1-1 Horns into the national rankings for the first time this season; they debut at No. 24 in the Soccer America poll. The Horns host BYU Monday, Sept. 20, 7pm, Myers Stadium (“Monday Madness,” $1 admission), before heading to Nebraska and Colorado for their Big 12 openers the following weekend.
The St. Edward’s women – 4-0 and ranked 11th in the country in Division 2 – face a big early test this Friday, hosting No. 4 West Texas A&M in a matchup of the top two teams in the South Central region, and a rematch of last year’s NCAA Sweet 16 round which St. Ed’s lost in penalty kicks. Fri., Sept. 17, 4pm. SEU Soccer Field.
Stoke City got two late goals to beat Aston Villa, 2-1 on Monday, for their first points of the EPL season. They host winless West Ham at 6:30am this Saturday, Sept. 18 (ESPN2).
This article appears in September 17 • 2010.