The Race for the Cup and other things

While we all know that in a 16 game season, every game counts. Imagine the initial pressure to win your first two home and road games for a chance to qualify in the oldest running tournament in the nation in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Things looked good for the Heat in their home Opener with a 3-1 rout of the Bravos. Their second game didn't count, since they played the same team.
Their third contest against the West Texas Sockers didn't quite go as planned as the club lost and to add insult to injury are going to be without the services of Greg Mulamba who was red carded for a strong tackle.
That makes two starters that aren't going to be with the club early on with the season ending injury to Hector Vallejo and now a one-game mandatory sit down for Mulamba.
The Heat was without goalie Rodrigo Avila, who started the previous two games.
Leaving Raul Herrera to make his first start and first defeat of the PDL season. Things are sure to get better for the first-year keeper as the season progresses.

TAKING A TEMPORARY BREAK?
While the Aztex U-23 were successful from the start, the organization decided not to field a team this season in order to concentrate on their Division one club. This is what they have on their webiste.
Just in case you were wondering what happened to the Aztex.

"The Austin Aztex thank you for your past support of our U23 team. Rather than sponsoring a U23 team in Austin during the 2010 season, we will be forming affiliations with other PDL clubs across the US and Canada. We believe this will allow us to focus the use of our resources, and will provide a broader scouting network for our USL1 team."

I'm sure the Heat isn't shedding many tears, although they will be missed since they provided an excellent and quality opponent.

And for even more from the Aztex you can read what a loyal fan had to say here

OPEN CUP STANDINGS
The best team in each PDL division gets an invitation to the Open Cup tournament and so far this are the standings.

1. DFW, four points, two games to go and a 4-1 goal aggregate
2. El Paso, four points with a 1-2 aggregate score and two games to go.
3. Heat, three points with a 3-1 aggregate and two games to go against Dallas and El Paso.
4. Sockers, three points and a 2-5 aggregate score with one game to go.
5. Bravos 0 points, with two games to go.
6. Houston has yet to play a game this season.