Not in a slump

Discussion in 'Austin Aztex' started by Parrothead FC, Jul 1, 2012.

  1. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    mgrayscale repped this.
  2. mgrayscale

    mgrayscale Member

    Mar 10, 2008
    Buda, TX
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would agree. The family and I along with friends decided to make the journey to NOLA for a combo family trip and to watch the game. The Aztex really controlled the pace of the game from moment 1. The protection in the back with Devon, Ross and Matt meant that on the few counters that the Jesters were able to make were pretty easily repelled. While the defense help up, the midfield and forwards were able penetrate into the box either with the dribble or cross.

    Although I'm not breathing easier for our position in the playoffs, I am feeling much more confidant after the win in Laredo, and how well we played in NOLA. West Texas on Friday will be a good test, but frankly, the Sunday next match in El Paso is a big one. We need to get points from the Patriots in order to stay in playoff positioning.
     
  3. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I just spent a moment trying to break down the scenarios, but with two key games left, I'm having difficulty sorting it out.

    Let's assume Laredo, Austin, and El Paso win all games against other opponents. Then we get

    32 - Laredo
    29 - Austin
    23 - El Paso

    Looking at it that way, we're in pretty decent shape. El Paso needs to beat both Laredo and us to get into the playoffs. If they did that, they would get in based on our head-to-head -- they would have three wins to our one (the thrashing here. If goal differential were the first tiebreaker, we would probably win even losing to them three times!)

    With the 'win against all others' assumption, we could win the division if El Paso beats Laredo, and we beat El Paso. Otherwise, a tie in El Paso puts us through. While things look challenging for El Paso, they have the advantage of both their key games being in El Paso. And one other thing in their favor -- they're playing tomorrow night at West Texas, so they have time to recover before we play on Sunday. We, on the other hand, get the common PDL Friday - Sunday turnaround, with a nice long ride as part of the deal.

    So, yeah, we need to not look past West Texas Friday. We need a win there to keep pace with our rivals. But then Sunday's match is pretty much for the season. In fact, if we can win in El Paso we'll have split the season with them and have the 'wins in league games' tiebreaker no matter what we do in New Orleans in the final game.
     
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  4. pomintex

    pomintex Member

    Feb 7, 2012
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    The thing of it is there are so many quirky results in this Div. We thrash NOLA at their place, then tonite they get a point at Laredo against all odds (nice though for us). I thought West Tex could get something from EP at home, only to lose 4-1 ! If anything has really cost us this season it was the two home ties with NOLA, though Sunday at El Paso looks the clincher still. Exciting stuff !
     
  5. pomintex

    pomintex Member

    Feb 7, 2012
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    A tired ?. If we qualify for playoffs whats the chance of another home game, would we have to be div winners?
     
  6. Native Aztexan

    Jan 27, 2002
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    After those 4th of July matches, here are the standings:

    Laredo Heat: 24 points (13 games)
    Austin Aztex: 23 points (13 games)
    El Paso Patroits: 20 points (13 games)
    Texas Dutch Lions: 14 points (13 games)
    New Orleans Jesters: 13 points (14 games)
    West Texas Sockers: 12 points (12 games)

    Remaining schedule (all times CST):

    Laredo Heat:
    Friday July 6 vs New Orleans Jesters 8:15 pm
    Thursday July 12 at West Texas Sockers 8:00 pm
    Saturday July 14 at El Paso Patroits 9:00 pm

    Austin Aztex:
    Friday July 6 vs West Texas Sockers 7:30 pm
    Sunday July 8 at El Paso Patroits 9:00 pm
    Saturday July 14 at New Orleans Jesters 7:00 pm

    El Paso Patroits:
    Sunday July 8 vs Austin Aztex 9:00 pm
    Friday July 13 vs Texas Dutch Lions 9:00 pm
    Saturday July 14 vs Laredo Heat 9:00 pm
    Funny that both Austin and Laredo play their last home match of the season on Friday while El Paso play their last 3 matches of the season at home (currently with a 3-1-1 home record).
     
  7. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think New Orleans is probably the most quirky. They have actually done slightly better away than at home. 1-3-3 at home, 1-2-4 away (w-l-t. I really wish that there were some solution to the US vs. rest-of-world reporting of results). There's probably some explanation, but I don't feel like taking the time to examine their game-by-game rosters to suss it out.
     
  8. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That tie by New Orleans in Laredo is big. Once again, going by the 'win against all others' assumption (which we clearly can't necessarily do, but I'm doing it anyway:)), we'd now finish with

    30 - Laredo
    29 - Austin
    23 - El Paso

    The players better not be looking past West Texas tomorrow night, but as a fan I can point out that a tie against El Paso would win us the division.

    ...one other realization. The way I'm putting up the numbers won't in any way reflect the way the numbers will show because of the order of the games.
     
  9. Scooter Pete

    Scooter Pete Member

    Apr 3, 2008
    Austin
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My understanding is that the first and second place teams in our (Mid-South) division would match up against the first and second place teams in the Southeast division, with the higher-seeded teams having the right of first refusal on hosting the matches. Currently in the Southeast it is Ocala, IMG Bradenton, and <cough> <cough> Orlando City U23s trying to make it to the post-season.

    The Aztex have indicated that if given the opportunity to host they will, but I think the only way to guarantee a home game would be to finish top of our group.
     
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  10. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You can't count out the Panama City Pirates, either.

    Well, maybe not even a couple other teams. They still have a lot of games to play over there (games played).

    28 - Ocala Stampede (13)
    23 - IMG Bradenton (13)
    22 - Orlando City U23 (12)
    20 - Panama City (11)
    17 - VSI Tampa (12)
    16 - Mississippi (12)
    7 - Fort Lauderdale (12)
    6 - FC Jax (13)

    OC's remaining games:
    @ Panama City
    Bradenton
    VSI
    @ FC Jax

    I wonder if those U23's would have any clue why they'd get such a tough reception should we manage to host them here?
     
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  11. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Update on the other division. Orlando gets the away win, and Ocala and VSI tie:

    29 - Ocala Stampede (14)
    25 - Orlando City U23 (13)
    23 - IMG Bradenton (13)
    20 - Panama City (12)
    18 - VSI Tampa (13)
    And Laredo got the win against New Orleans, so they've managed to stay ahead of us:

    27 - Laredo (14)
    26 - Austin (14)
    20 - El Paso (13)

    For what it's worth, we've passed every other team in the PDL for goals scored.
     
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  12. Native Aztexan

    Jan 27, 2002
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    After tonight match, which was.........a 1-0 win for our Austin Aztex at El Paso Patriots. Which means....

    WE ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS BABY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

    That result would put a frown on El Paso's "smiling" #11 player and more grey hairs to #10 "Just For Men". ;)
     
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  13. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  14. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Update on the other division. Ocala and VSI Tampa get wins

    32 - Ocala Stampede (15)
    25 - Orlando City U23 (13)
    23 - IMG Bradenton (14)
    21 - VSI Tampa (14)
    20 - Panama City (13)

    Second place is still up for grabs over there, but 1st place is locked in. The only way we'll get a chance at hosting is if Panama City can beat Ocala in Panama City on Friday.

    Our win puts us on top, for the moment. I kept El Paso on there just for the heck of it, but 1st/2nd is now between us an Laredo, and pretty much comes down to whether Laredo can keep up. The key game there is Saturday, Laredo going to El Paso. The only thing that puts any energy into this game is the long rivalry between the two teams. With El Paso out of the playoffs and playing a game the night before, I don't see any other reason for them to put in much of an effort.

    29 - Austin (15)
    27 - Laredo (14)
    20 - El Paso (14)

    What I'm curious (and trying not to be concerned) about is why Kris Tyrpak wasn't on the roster.
     
  15. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wow, indeed. Those stats are a mess. Somehow Will managed to score that goal without taking a shot. And no wonder the game was so low scoring. Both teams had two goalkeepers out there for at least 30 minutes.;)
     
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  16. mgrayscale

    mgrayscale Member

    Mar 10, 2008
    Buda, TX
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I sat next to David Markley at the Super 20's final match yesterday, and he told me that Kris had to go back to Houston for some school stuff. The belief was that he'd very likely be able to get back for the playoff matches, so for now, I'm not overly worried (although I was worried about the absence last night).

    I wouldn't be surprised to see a number of the players who may be carrying dings get rested this weekend in New Orleans. Rumor has it that a large number of players (potentially all but 14) have left the squad in NOLA, and the organization is looking to find some replacements. We'll see what happens. I'd imagine that had the match been scheduled away from NOLA, they'd have looked to forfeit but since it's at home, it provides them an opportunity to leverage local talent.
     
  17. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks for the info. Figured that there was probably a good reason. It's weird to think that we're about to start losing players for college already.

    As to NOLA... I wonder what the PDL season record is for goals scored, and if we could shoot for that next weekend?;)

    ...Didn't have to look very far to find something that's probably out of our reach. Portland Timber's U23's scored 53 goals in 2010.
     
  18. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't mean to be... overly skeptical or negative, but we do remember what the Rawlins' said about the Eddie Johnson trade rumors right before learning what they hadn't said about the franchise itself. I understand that even mentioning them in a discussion about the current AzTeX is about as welcome a thing as Basil Fawlty compulsively bringing up the war in front of the German hotel guests, but like Mr. Fawlty I can't help myself. I will have my doubts until Tyrpak is back on the pitch. Maybe it's a concussion, maybe he's on trial somewhere, or maybe he does have school stuff at the beginning of July.

    How odd. Does that kind of thing often happen toward the end of PDL seasons?
     
  19. mgrayscale

    mgrayscale Member

    Mar 10, 2008
    Buda, TX
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I can't say this enough, but David Markley is no Phil Rawlins. There's no better evidence than the bridges that David has repaired with sponsors and partners, who were burned when Phil bolted from Austin without so much as a "f*** you". I understand from Kris' Twitter account that he did work out with the Dynamo, but I'm willing to bet that this was something organized by Paul Dalglish (who played and coached with the Houston team prior to coming to the Aztex) to make sure that Kris stayed in shape. Kris also stated that he's planning on going to NOLA, although I'm waiting to hear if he'll be able to make the playoffs. I'm willing to bet that he will. However, even if he doesn't, I think we saw last night that we can still hold our own on the frontline.

    As far as the normalcy of a team losing players, I wouldn't say it's an every day event, but it's not surprising.
     
  20. TwoMeters

    TwoMeters Member

    Jan 27, 2008
    Austin, TX
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Players themselves aren't always be able to be 100% forthright about plans (trialing, transferring, etc.), either, but as Matthew pointed out, he does give the same story as Markley on Twitter:

    https://twitter.com/KrisTyrpak/status/222122901783060480
     

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