Austin Aztex News Release -- www.austinaztex.com
Thursday, March 7, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Aztex have announced four players who will join the club for the 2013 PDL season, including two first-year players in Seth Casiple and Robbie Derschang. They join Tony Rocha and Devin Cook, who return from the 2012 squad.
“We are excited to bring on players of this caliber to the squad,” Aztex Head Coach Paul Dalglish said. “Having Under-20 national team pool players, and players from last season, shows the high bar that we are looking for in our players.”
Casiple, a 19-year-old sophomore from Rocklin, Calf. and midfielder at the University of California Berkeley, joins the Aztex after leading the Golden Bears in assists last season with seven. Casiple trained with the U.S. U20 Men’s national team twice in early 2012 after a stellar freshman season, where he was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. That season, Casiple led the conference in assists much of the season all while being the only freshman to start all 17 games for the Golden Bears. Casiple was also named All-Pac-12 honorable mention and named to the Soccer America All-Freshman team. Prior to college, Casiple trained with the Men’s U18 teams in 2010 and joined the 2010 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Western Conference Starting XI.
Derschang, a 20-year-old defender from Englewood, Colo., started 12 games in his junior season for the Akron University Zips. Prior to arriving in Akron, Derschang was a two-year starter for Southern Methodist University, where he was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Freshman All-American Team and the Conference USA All-Freshman Team in 2010. Derschang helped lead the Mustangs to two NCAA tournaments, including a semifinal finish in 2010.
Rocha, from Houston, returns to the Austin Aztex squad after helping Tulsa advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2012. The 19-year-old player moved to defense during his sophomore season, scoring one game-winning goal and adding six assists. One year earlier, Rocha was selected as the Conference-USA Freshman of the Year before joining the Aztex for their inaugural season. Once with the Aztex, Rocha scored two goals and added two assists in seven games played. The two goals came in Austin’s first game against the Texas Dutch Lions, earning Rocha a spot on the USL PDL’s Team of the Week.
Cook, a 19-year-old goalkeeper from Austin, returns to the Austin Aztex after helping the squad make a late-season push to the USL PDL’s Southern Conference Championship game in 2012. Cook earned five wins in eight appearances for the Aztex, allowing only three goals. Cook joins fellow Aztex team member Damian Rosales from SMU. Cook is a product of the Lonestar SC in Austin.
The Austin Aztex kick off the 2013 United Soccer League’s PDL season with an away match on Saturday, May 11 in the Mid South division against Oklahoma City FC. The Aztex will open the club’s PDL home schedule on Saturday, May 18 at House Park versus the Houston Dutch Lions.