Saturday, May 11, 2013
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Austin Aztex faced stiff opposition from Oklahoma City in the USL PDL season opener on Saturday night, but were able to score two late goals in a 2-1 victory. Westlake High School’s Walker Hume sealed the victory for the Aztex in the 88th minute when the 6-foot-5 defender sent a looping headed shot into the far side of the opponent’s goal. Justin Franz, from Cedar Park, provided the assist with a long throw-in.
The Aztex faced tremendous pressure from Oklahoma City FC, who were playing their first home game in their inaugural season in the PDL. The Aztex were able to maintain possession in their defensive half, but could not connect passes and create scoring chances early on.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City FC capitalized on an Aztex foul in the 20th minute. Oklahoma City’s Adam Black scored for the home team when he kicked a left-footed free kick that curved around the Aztex wall and into the goal.
The Aztex were forced to make early adjustments, sending Tucker Hume in at forward for Jacob Powell to add height to the Aztex attack.
“Paul (Dalglish) told me to establish a physical presence at the top,” Hume said. “My job was to lay the ball the ball off to my teammates, help win the second ball, and lay it off to Andres Cuero and then get into position to score.”
Trailing by a goal at halftime, the Aztex retooled the attack to target Hume up top as a target striker. The adjustment allowed the team to play the ball through the air. Near the 60th minute, the Aztex switched their formation with Kris Tyrpak moving up front into a 4-4-2.The adjustment allowed the Aztex to build momentum in their attack. Late substitutions, including Walker Hume and Oumar Djiba, gave the Aztex a tall, physical presence for any ball fought in the air.
The second half adjustments for the Aztex paid off as they were able to maintain possession and connect on short passes to create dangerous attacking opportunities. The Aztex found the game-tying goal in the 77th minute when Tony Rocha’s free kick deflected off of a defender and found the back of the net.
“I didn’t even see it go into goal, I just saw the net move,” Rocha said. “ I was aiming for the right post to see if someone could come in and flick it in. I saw my teammates celebrate so I started celebrating.”
The goal eased the pressure off the Aztex to find the equalizer. With that pressure off, they mounted more attacks and had Oklahoma City FC on their heels. Hume’s goal 10 minutes later sealed the victory for the Aztex. The play started along the sideline when Justin Franz tossed in a long throw-in. Tucker Hume was able to get into position and hit a looping header into the far side netting of the opponent’s goal.
Next up for the Austin Aztex is a home match against NTX Rayados in the First Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff will be 7:30 p.m. at House Park.