Aztex shut out by Roughnecks in rescheduled game,

Rescheduled game leaves ‘some guys dragging’ in defeat.

The atmosphere wasn’t there, and neither were the goals.

After tornado warnings, lightning delays and torrential rains halted Saturday night’s USL Pro match, Austin and Tulsa made it through an entire game Sunday without a drop falling — or a ball falling in the back of the Roughnecks’ net.

Steven Miller scored at 24:35 for Tulsa, and Roughnecks FC withstood an Austin onslaught of shots for a 1-0 win.

“When you’re all geared up for a Saturday night match and then it’s called, you have to wake up early the next morning and play in heat and humidity, it does zap your energy,” said Aztex coach Paul Dalglish. “You could see some guys dragging a bit.”

Sunday brunch is obviously not a popular time for a sporting event in Austin. The game was first rescheduled for 10 a.m., then 11 a.m., for Tulsa’s travel purposes. Not even all of Eberly’s Army answered the early wakeup call.

The Aztex said 2,765 tickets were sold for the match, but no more than 1,000 were on hand at House Park. Early on, it had the feel of an exhibition, with only a few hundred people in the stands at kickoff. You could hear coaches barking out orders and players shouting instructions.

“That kind of situation is a mental test, but Tulsa faced those conditions, too, so that’s not an excuse for us,” said Austin’s team captain, Lance Rozeboom. “I thought our energy was fine. We had chances, but conceding that early goal meant we were chasing the game the rest of the way.”

Austin outshot Tulsa 21-9, including 11-2 in the second half, and generated eight shots on goal to two by the Roughnecks (3-4-2). But there was much more quantity than quality as none of the Aztex shots required a bigtime save by Zac Lubin.

“I thought we created enough chances to win two games,” Dalglish said. “We had four headers from six yards out. You can’t ask for much more. You just have to convert. Scoring goals is so hard.”

The Aztex, who fell below .500 at 4-5-1, miss Sainey Touray’s offense. He’s recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Kris Tyrpak, the team’s leading scorer, was clearly not himself Sunday, and Dalglish said Tyrpak has “borderline bronchitis.”

Forward Adam Bedell, along with defender Kalen Ryden, were recalled by the MLS club Columbus Crew SC, so Austin is short up front. Andres Cuero, good technically but small physically, played up top but was often jostled off the ball by bigger Tulsa defenders.

Brazilian Fernando Timbo, a large defender on trial in midfield, was a threat while also showing how raw he is. Timbo launched five shots but only one on goal, and he had two headers he couldn’t bury.

Now the Aztex kiss goodbye to House Park for a long time, playing the next four matches on the road. They return to town on June 20.