Austin Aztex U23

Austin Aztex U23

Full name	Austin Aztex U23 Football Club
Nickname(s)	Aztex
Founded	2007
Dissolved	2009
Ground	Dragon Stadium
Capacity	8,800
Owner, Head Coach	Phil Rawlins
Manager	Wolfgang Suhnholz
League	USL Premier Development League
2009	3rd, Mid South Playoff Divisional Semifinals
Home colors Away colors

Austin Aztex U23was an Americansoccerteam based inRound Rock, Texas,United States.Founded in 2007, the team played in theUSL Premier Development League(PDL),the fourth tier of theAmerican Soccer Pyramid,until 2009, after which the franchise folded and the team left the league.

The team played its home games inDragon Stadiumon the campus ofRound Rock High School.The team's colors were red and white.

The team was part of the official development system of theAustin AztexUSL First Divisionfranchise, which also has an affiliation with EnglishPremier LeagueclubStoke City.

History

The Aztex originally joined the PDL as a 2008 expansion franchise, and were initially namedAustin Stampede,but were re-branded after their controlling shares were bought by Austin Football Holdings LLC, (AFH).The team made its professional debut on 3 May 2008 in a 0–0 tie away toEl Paso Patriots,and picked up its first victory in the next game, 2–0 at home toHouston Leonesoff goals byA. J. GodboltandRobin Martinez.The Aztex enjoyed an auspicious beginning to their debut season, winning six of their next seven games, including a 4–0 thrashing ofDFW Tornadosthat features a hat-trick from strikerAndres Cuero.The team's positive early season form also saw them qualify for theLamar Hunt U.S. Open Cupat the first time of asking, where they managed to holdUSL1sideAtlanta Silverbacksto a 2–2 tie before ultimately 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out;Jamie WatsonandWilly Guadarramascored Austin's goals. Austin's impressive form continued through June and early July with three more home victories, but in the final games of the regular the team stuttered, losing three on the bounce, including a 1–3 turnaround toEl Paso Patriots,their worst defeat of the season. Nevertheless, the team's early and mid-season consistency kept them at the top of the Mid South Division, finishing the season as champions, three points ahead of second placeLaredo Heat,and into the Southern Conference playoffs. A 2–1 victory over Southeast Division runners-upBradenton Academicsput the Aztex into the Conference final,where they were overrun by a resurgentLaredo Heatwho, despite having been beaten twice by the Aztex during the regular season, put them away with a 3–1 scoreline.Also in 2008, the Aztex played an exhibition match at home against the popular Mexican teamTigrés,coming away on the wrong end of a respectable 2–1 scoreline.Jamie WatsonandAndres Cuerowere the Aztex's top scorers, with 7 and 5 goals respectively, and Watson topped the assists sheet too, with three to his name.Miguel Gallardoenjoyed the best goalkeeping statistics in the PDL, with a goals-against average of 0.615 per game, and keeping 9 clean sheets in his 13 games.

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
2008	4	USL PDL	1st, Mid South	Conference Finals	1st Round
2009	4	USL PDL	3rd, Mid South	Divisional Semifinals	Did not qualify

Honors

• USL PDL
  • Mid South Division Champions:2008

Head coaches

• Wolfgang Suhnholz(2008–2009)

Stadia

• Dragon Stadium;Round Rock, Texas(2008–2009)
• Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field;Waco, Texas1 game (2009)
• Stadium atBastrop High School;Bastrop, Texas1 game (2009)
• Bobcat Soccer Complex;San Marcos, Texas1 game (2009)

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical matchhttps://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html

• 2008: 1,166
• 2009: 240

See also

• Austin Lightning
• Austin Aztex FC

External links

• Austin Aztex U23