Austin Aztex News Release - www.austinaztex.com

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

AUSTIN, TX -- The USL First Division's expansion Austin Aztex inaugural run in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup came to an end Wednesday night at Nelson Field, falling 2-0 to nearby MLS side Houston Dynamo, two-time winners of MLS Cup the past three years.

The Dynamo’s Corey Ashe played only a half, but that’s all it took for the speedy midfielder to make his presence felt.

Houston subbed in Ashe at halftime and he responded, breaking the scoreless tie with a goal midway through the half and an assist just before stoppage time to lead Houston to a 2-0 win over the Aztex and advance to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.

“It’s a bonus for us when you bring off a guy like Brian Mullan for a guy like Corey Ashe,” Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said.

Ashe headed home a rebound off a free kick for his first goal, ending 70 minutes of back-and-forth play between the two sides that had left the scoreboard empty.

Austin responded following the goal and threatened multiple times but failed to score an equalizer. The first opportunity came less than three minutes after Ashe’s goal when an Aztex corner kick found a wide open Ryan Caugherty for a header that sailed well over the crossbar.

Not long after, an Austin counterattack ended with Eddie Johnson needing to beat only one defender. Johnson made a move to find space but his shot went straight to the keeper.

Ashe ended all doubt of the result in the 90th minute when his cross found a streaking Dominic Oduro for the final goal.

The first half saw the Aztex bunker in on defense and create opportunities off of counter attacks. Austin still couldn’t find the net.

“We were telling our guys not to attack in so many numbers because we were getting caught forward,” Kinnear said. “We were too anxious to go forward.”

Austin seemed content with the counterattack offense throughout the half despite the fact it also allowed chances for Houston. The Dynamo created a long buildup of scoring opportunities in the first five minutes but Austin quickly countered. Jeff Harwell found himself behind the back line with a path to the goal after a long ball worked its way through the defense but a timely Houston tackle in the box was ruled clean by the referee and spoiled the Aztex run.

“One of the things we talked about before the game was catching them on the break,” Austin head coach Adrian Heath said. “I felt some good things came out of it.”

Houston’s best chance of the first half came late, when Mullan, who had made himself comfortable along the right side all half, fired in a cross that Danny Cruz headed just wide of the post. The half ended scoreless before Ashe came out and put away the game with his impressive second-half performance.

“They’ve got Ashe, they had Kei Kamara [off the bench]; that shows their strength in depth,” Heath said. “They’re probably one of the best run clubs in the MLS. I’m disappointed with the result, but pleased with the performance.”