Austin Aztex News Release -- www.austinaztex.com
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Austin Aztex have been named hosts of the Southern Conference Championships, set to take place at House Park on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27.
The Aztex (10-1-1, 31 points) clinched the Mid South Division title after a 4-0 victory over Oklahoma City FC on Saturday night and finished their regular season with a perfect home record of 7-0-0. The Aztex outscored their opponents at home by a margin of 23 to 3.
The Southern Conference Championships are a single elimination playoff consisting of the top two teams from the Mid South Division and the Southeast Division. The Austin Aztex will represent the Mid South Division along either the Laredo Heat or Oklahoma City FC, pending results of games this week. The Southeast Division will be represented by Panama City Beach Pirates and the Ocala Stampede. Matchups and kickoff times will be announced at a later date.
“The Aztex are excited to host the Southern Conference playoffs in front of our home fans and to welcome the other finalists to Austin,” said Rene van de Zande, who joined the team as an owner prior to the season. “Being from Europe originally, I have been impressed with the quality of play. Our guests all feature talented players on well-coached teams, so regardless of the final pairings, fans can expect to see three great matches.”
“The players have earned this opportunity to play in front of the home fans,” said Aztex Head Coach Paul Dalglish. “With so many of them being from Central Texas, it is fitting that they will be able to play the opening games of the playoffs in front of their friends and families.”
To thank fans for their support throughout the season, playoff tickets will remain at $10 per adult with children 10 and under admitted free. Fans that have unused tickets from the regular season may also redeem those tickets for admission, and one ticket is good for both matches on Friday.
“We’ve always had a goal of providing affordable entertainment to our supporters, and we believe the Southern Conference playoffs will provide great value,” said Aztex Founder and CEO, David Markley. “We do things like providing free parking and including tax in the price of each ticket because we want to make it easy for our fans to come cheer for Austin’s soccer team. Their support has played a major role in our success so far this season, and we need them more than ever in the playoffs."