Austin Aztex News Release -- www.austinaztex.com
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Austin Aztex (8-0-1) travel to Laredo to face the Heat (5-2-2) in a showdown with playoff implications for both squads.
“The Heat need as many points as they can get right now at the end of the season so that they can get into second place,” Aztex defender Max Gunderson said. “They will be fighting hard. Our game next week will be a home game for them, so it will be loud. We have got to push through and we will need to know our responsibilities and work for each other."
The Aztex currently lead the PDL's Mid South Division with 25 points and are looking to book their spot into the Southern Conference Final Four. The Aztex also enter Wednesday’s game with the best regular season record in the conference, something they wish to keep intact if they want home field advantage for the playoffs.
Laredo, the four-time defending division champions, enter the game on the outside looking in for a playoff bid. The Heat sit at third in the Mid South Division with 17 points, but are only two points behind second place OKC FC with a game in hand from their Oklahoma rivals.
The last time Austin and Laredo met, Seth Casiple scored on his first touch as an Aztex player on a free kick for a 1-0 victory at House Park on May 25. Since then, the Heat have bounced back and climbed toward back toward the top of the table with a 4-1-1 record during the month of June.
The main battle of Wednesday’s match will be the contest in midfield. Both Austin and Laredo are patient in their attack and look to maintain possession if they control the midfield. Austin’s midfield trio of Zachary Garcia, Tony Rocha, and Andres Cuero will look to take control of the ball and move it to lanes for the Aztex front line. However, Laredo has strong midfielders in Greg Mulamba and Juan de Dios Ibarra who are also capable of controlling the midfield.
“I feel that we are confident going into the game,” Rocha said. “Our goal is to go into every game as if it is the Southern Conference championship. If we win game-by-game then the ultimate result will come.”
The matchup features two of the top goalkeepers in the Mid South Division. Aztex goalkeeper Devin Cook is tied for the lead in the USL PDL in shutouts with seven while Heat goalkeeper Emmanuel Frias is tied for sixth with five shutouts. Cook also carries a miniscule goals-against-average of 0.36 through all competitions.
If Laredo wishes to leapfrog OKC FC in the standings, they will need to put an end to Austin’s 409 minute shutout streak which dates back to June 8.
Daniel Garza leads the Heat in points scored with 13 and proves to be a dangerous focal point to the team’s attack. However, the Heat show that they have a variety of players who are dangerous on the attack, as they have seven players who have scored between four and six points.
The Aztex counter with Cuero, who looks to make a strong encore after his five point performance Saturday night versus Houston. Cuero leads the Aztex with 14 points among all competitions. Kris Tyrpak (10 points), Sito Seoane (nine points), and Tucker Hume (eight points) are additional threatening options in the Aztex attack.