Eddie Johnson and Jamie Watson connected two times on Saturday night at House Park, rocketing the Aztex back into first place with a 2-0 victory over the NSC Minnesota Stars. In the 24th minute, Johnson struck for the first time in the game after receiving a through ball from Watson that set up a one-on-one against the Minnesota (7-12-7) keeper. After faking to the right, Johnson dodged back outside and left the helpless keeper with nothing to do but watch him put it in the back of the net.

On a celebratory night at PGE Park, midfielder Ryan Pore scored a late game-winning goal and goalkeeper Steve Cronin logged his 10th shutout of the season as the Portland Timbers downed the Puerto Rico Islanders 1-0 before 15,418 on Thursday. The sellout crowd witnessed and celebrated the Timbers’ regular season-home finale and final home match at PGE Park as a member of the USSF Division-2 Pro League. With their fifth sellout of the season, the Timbers set a new modern-franchise record for regular-season attendance at 155,006 and welcomed their one millionth fan to the venue since 2001. 

The Austin Aztex added one last piece to their roster on the last day of the transfer window, signing Charleston Battery midfielder Ian Fuller for the remainder of the season. Fuller scored the championship-winning goal for the Battery in the 52nd minute, who finished the season as the top team in the league with an 11-4-5 record and went on to take home the Battery’s third championship. 

The United Soccer Leagues’ Super Y-League announced on Thursday the addition of U12 boys and girls age groups for the 2011 season, giving the league six age groups for the first time. The U12 divisions will maintain the same rules and regulations of the league’s U13-U17 age groups, with its first season concluding at the 2011 USL Super Y-League North American Finals. 

 For the second consecutive year, the Austin Aztex took home the Austin Chamber of Commerce Community Relations Award on Wednesday night at the Chamber’s Awards Banquet at the Hilton Austin. Austin’s players and staff have appeared throughout the community more than 100 times throughout the 2010 calendar year to date and still have a plethora of events lined up to through the remainder of the season. 

In another important step in the upgrade of its operations, United Soccer Leagues announced today that it is moving its headquarters to the state-of-the-art nine-story Westshore Center in Tampa, Florida.  Scheduled to become USL’s new home on November 1, 2010, Westshore Center is conveniently located minutes from Tampa International Airport as well as the downtown core.