Match Preview(s): Heat versus Austin, DFW This Weekend
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Jul 3, 2009, 0 Comments
(Laredo, TX): “Have bags, will travel” can easily be the slogan for the Laredo Heat Soccer Club (5 – 1 – 6 / 21 points) over the past week and concluding this weekend when they travel to San Marcos, Texas to take on the Austin Aztex (6 – 2 – 4 / 22 points) on Friday, July 3rd. The match versus the Aztex is set to kick-off at 7:30 PM on the campus of Texas State University at the Bobcat Soccer Stadium.
The Heat will be without the services of their Head Coach, Israel Collazo, for the game in San Marcos. Collazo will have to watch the game from the press box as he serves a one game suspension for being ejected late in the game last weekend in Hidalgo versus the Rio Grande Valley Bravos. Assistant Coach Fernando Hernandez will take the helm for the club for this game.
Currently, the Aztex and the El Paso Patriots (7 – 4 – 1 / 22 points) are tied for the lead in the Premier Development League’s (PDL) Mid-South Division but the Heat are just one point behind the leaders in the standings. All three teams have four games left to play in the regular season.
This coming weekend will be critical to all the teams in the division when it comes to playoff implications since the top three teams in the Mid-South qualify for post-season play.
The Heat will have a day off on July 4th; however, that will be their travel day and they will be departing Central Texas and heading to the Metroplex where on Sunday, July 5th, they will be challenged at Pennington Field in Bedford, Texas by the DFW Tornados. Kick-off for that game will also be at 7:30 PM.
“Playing away from home, especially late in the season, is always a challenge but it is something that all teams have to deal with”, mentioned Heat General Manager J.J. Vela.
“It is crunch time now for our club with only four games remaining; however, the beauty of this is that we are playing teams (Austin, Rio Grande Valley and West Texas United) that are also vying for playoff positions and wins over those teams can really help us towards making the post –season”.
“Not to take away anything from our game against the DFW Tornados on Sunday, since their playoff hopes are almost extinct, but the players know that even that game will be challenging since just two weeks ago they came down to Laredo and tied us and it is never an easy task to play them at home. This season, they (DFW) have just not gotten the breaks they needed to pull out some additional wins”.
Vela concluded, “If the players execute our game plan and everything works out for us as we hope this weekend, our playoff destiny will rest solely in our hands and from experience that is a good thing to have on our side”.
The Heat will conclude the PDL Regular Season at home with games versus the Rio Grande Valley Bravos on Thursday, July 9th and the West Texas United (Midland) Sockers on Friday, July 17th.
Around the Mid-South Division:
Heat defender Soamy Bautista was named to the PDL’s Team of the Week for his two goal performance in Laredo’s 4 – 2 victory versus the Rio Grande Valley Bravos last weekend in Hidalgo, Texas. Bautista also plays collegiately at TAMIU for Coach Claudio Arias.
Standings
– El Paso Patriots (7 – 4 – 1 / 22 points, 12 games played)
– Austin Aztex (6 – 2 – 4 / 22 points, 12 game played)
– Laredo Heat (5 – 1 – 6 / 21 points, 12 games played)
– RGV Bravos (5 – 4 – 4 / 19 points, 13 games played)
– West Texas United Sockers (4 – 3 – 3 / 15 points, 10 games played)
– DFW Tornados (2 – 6 – 3 / 9 points, 11 games played)
– Houston Leones (0 – 9 – 3 / 3 points, 12 games played)
