Rio Grande Valley Bravos News Release - www.rgvbravos.com
Saturday, June 27, 2009
HIDALGO, TX -- It didn’t look good for RGV Bravos in the first 15 minutes of Saturday night’s match against Austin. However the Blue-and-Gold settled down and scored five goals in the remaining 75 minutes to rout the division-leading Aztex 5-1 at Valley View High School Stadium.
With the win, Bravos FC extended its unbeaten streak to four games and improved to 5-3-4 on the season, and took over the third-place spot over Laredo with 19 points in the Mid South Division of the USL Premier Development League. The Heat has 18 points after tying 1-1 with Austin on Friday night.
The Aztex dropped to 6-2-4 with 22 points. El Paso is in second place with a 7-4-1 record and 22 points.
Tomás Banda opened up the scoring for Bravos FC with a 16th minute penalty kick after striker Salvador Luna was dropped in the goal area by an Aztex defender. The goal is Banda’s second of the season.
Forward Alfonso Cavazos increased the Valley side’s lead to 2-0 in the 36th minute. It was Cavazos’ first goal as a member of the Blue-and-Gold. He was the goal-scoring champion for the McAllen Amateur Soccer Association (Liga MASA) Premier Division last year with Deportivo Álvarez.
In the second half, Blue-and-Gold leading goalscorer Salvador Luna notched two tallies in the 59th and 72nd minutes to put Bravos FC up 4-0. Luna has scored 11 goals in 10 matches.
Austin went down a man in the 82nd minute when Roger DaCosta was ejected after the Aztex defender fouled RGV midfielder Gabriel Escandón.
Bravos FC sealed the match in the 90th minute when Escandón filtered a pass to fellow midfielder Noé De los Santos, who fired a shot to the left post of Aztex goalkeeper Jason Williams to give the Blue-and-Gold a 5-0 lead.
RGV’s shutout bid was upset by Austin leading goalscorer Kendell McFayden during injury time to give Bravos FC a 5-1 rout of the Aztex.
With the victory, Bravos FC won the season series against Austin with a 1-0-1 record and four points. The Blue-and-Gold tied 2-2 with the Aztex at Austin on May 30.
Bravos FC will be back in action Sunday in a rematch against the Laredo Heat at 7:30 p.m. at Valley View High Stadium in Hidalgo. The Blue-and-Gold have tied their previous two meetings against the Heat this season.
GAME NOTES: Assistant Coach Javier “El Gato” Navarrete won his second game at the Bravos FC helm in substitution of suspended Technical Director Ismael “Moreira” Braga…Navarrete is 2-1-0 and will coach the next two games against Laredo…Saturday’s goal-scoring spree against Austin is the second time this season that the Blue-and-Gold has scored five goals in a game…Bravos FC defeated the DFW Tornados 5-2 away on June 12…During the game introductions prior to the Austin match Bravos FC held a banner showing their support for injured teammate Jesús Mireles that said, “Estamos Contigo Chuy”…Mireles was in the stands for Saturday night’s game.
