Saturday, July 13, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Austin Aztex (10-1-1) clinched the PDL's Mid South Division championship and booked their ticket to the playoffs after a 4-0 win against Oklahoma City FC (7-4-2) on Saturday night at House Park. The match was the final home game of the regular season for the Aztex, who finished with a perfect 7-0-0 record at House Park with 22 goals scored while allowing only three.
“We wanted to perform well in front of our fans for our final home game,” Aztex defender and team captain Zack Pope said. “We have prepared well this week and all season. We put ourselves in a good position be successful and hopefully we win these two remaining games.”
“We said from the very beginning that his is our house, our fortress. That is our battleground out there and we are going to protect this house. That is what we have established from day one. When we play in front of our fans we owe it to them to put on a show and make sure they leave satisfied.”
The Aztex immediately pounced on OKC FC after the opening whistle when Aztex midfielder Tony Rocha intercepted a pass and then sent a pass upfield to Kris Tyrpak, who navigated his way through the OKC FC defense and shot the ball past goalkeeper Brian Byars after just 16 seconds.
Tony Rocha scored the second goal of the game in the 17th minute when he collected the ball in front of OKC FC’s goal after Sito Seoane’s shot was deflected. Rocha chipped the ball past Byars.
Defensively, the Aztex worked to contain Adam Black and OKC FC’s attack. The Aztex continued with a high work rate to press OKC FC when they had possession to make sure they would not get comfortable with the ball.
“It’s just a matter of work rate,” Aztex midfielder Zachary Garcia said. “If we work harder than them then we know we are going to get it done. We respect those players, Black is a great player, but it is a matter of working hard and doing what we need to do to get the win.”
OKC FC came out of halftime revitalized and looking to climb back into the game. For the first 25 minutes of the second half, the Aztex absorbed a flurry of long throw-ins and corner kicks from OKC FC.
Tyrpak collected his second goal of the game and the third goal for the Aztex in the 70th minute when he re-directed Eddie Campbell’s deflected shot in front of OKC FC’s goal, into the back of the net. Tyrpak finished his hat trick with his third goal in the 89th minute when he received a pass from Westlake High School alumnus Tucker Hume and hit the ball into the net.
It is the second time in the team’s first two seasons in which Tyrpak has scored a hat trick in the team’s regular season home finale. Tyrpak received loud applause from the crowd when he was substituted off during stoppage time.
“It felt amazing,” Tyrpak said. It was fantastic to score in front of all the fans. It was the perfect way to end the home finale and was a great way to give back to the fans.”
The shutout continues Devin Cook’s reign as one of the top goalkeepers in the PDL. Cook is among the league leaders with eight wins, six shutouts, and a goals against average of less than 0.500.
The Aztex wrap up their regular season with a road trip, where they will play the West Texas Sockers on Thursday before their season finale against the El Paso Patriots on Saturday. The Aztex will look to compete for home field advantage in the Southern Conference Championships.