PATRIOTS ON THE ROAD
El Paso Takes On Austin Aztex, DFW Tornados
to Finish Out Three-Game Road Trip
The Texas swing continues for the El Paso Patriots, looking to rebound after suffering a 2-1 loss to the Houston Leones in Richmond, TX, last Saturday.
Midfielder Jeffrey Jennings became the fifth different player to score a goal for El Paso, taking a feed from defender Jamie Cunningham and beating goalkeeper Vladimir Jauregui in the 23rd minute to give the Patriots the initial lead.
But two penalty kicks from Fernando Benitez in the 33rd minute and George Sangira in the 62nd were too much for El Paso keeper Sebastián Narvaéz, ending his string of two successive shutouts, both against Houston.
This weekend, the Patriots will keep walking across Texas to face the Austin Aztex Friday and the Dallas-Fort Worth Tornados Saturday in Mid-South Division play.
In the first-ever match between El Paso and the Aztex, the two teams battled to a scoreless draw to open the 2008 season on May 3rd at Patriot Stadium. Other than a 2-0 loss to Mississippi Brilla FC in its last match, the tie has been the only setback for Austin, which has stormed its way to the top of the standings in the rough-and-tumble Mid-South under former U.S. U-23 national team coach Wolfgang Sunholz.
The Aztex are directly affiliated through both ownership and organization with newly-promoted Stoke City, which earned a spot in the English Premier League for 2008-09.
It’s the first match-up between El Paso and its old DFW rivals this season on Saturday, but the red, white and blue has not won at Pennington Field since its first season in the USL’s Premier Development League in 2004, and has a 1-3-2 record in the Metroplex. The Patriots were 2-1-1 against DFW last season, though, and are 6-5-2 all-time against the Tornados.
Both matches kick off at 6:30 p.m. MDT and fans and media alike can keep track of the results at the team website, www.elpaso-patriots.com, as well as at the league website, http://pdl.uslsoccer.com.
Currently, the Aztex lead the division with a 4-1-1 record and 13 points, followed closely by , despite the fact Houston is a game below .500 at 3-4-0 and nine points. Defending PDL champion Laredo is tied with as the Heat are 2-1-3 on the year, followed by El Paso at 2-2-2 with eight points. Brilla FC (2-2-1) and DFW (2-3-1) are next, tied with seven points each, and followed by the Baton Rouge Capitals (2-3-0, six points).
The Patriots return home next weekend for two more matches against DFW on June 13 and 14th. Fans can find ticket specials and promotions at www.elpaso-patriots.com.
