High SchoolsLeave a comment

2018/19 TAPPS and SPC Soccer State Championship Results

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The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) and the Southwest Preparatory Conference held their 2018/2019 Soccer Championships over the last two weekends. Highlights of the tournaments, including Episcopal’s 4th straight SPC title, were Dallas Bishop Lynch winning their second Division I TAPPS Girls title, San Antonio Catholic winning their third consecutive TAPPS Division I Boys championship and St. Thomas Episcopal winning both the Boys and Girls TAPPS Division III titles. The results of the Finals matches are listed below: 2018-19 TAPPS Winter Soccer Championship Finals TAPPS is an organization that organizes statewide academic, athletic and fine arts programs for private … Continue reading 2018/19 TAPPS and SPC Soccer State Championship Results

Houston Dynamo, MLS, Texas Soccer HistoryLeave a comment

Top 5 Houston Dynamo CONCACAF Champions League Matches

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After a four year absence from the competition, the Houston Dynamo return to the 2018-2019 version of the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) Tuesday night (9 p.m CST) (Yahoo Sports, Univision Deportes). The club automatically qualified into this years version of the CCL Round of 16 knockout stage when they won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in Houston last September. The opening opponent for the Dynamo will be Guatemalan side CD Guastatoya, who qualified after winning a special two-legged playoff over Antigua GFC, scheduled when the suspension of the Guatemalan federation was lifted by FIFA. This will be the … Continue reading Top 5 Houston Dynamo CONCACAF Champions League Matches

USL ChampionshipLeave a comment

Notes from San Antonio FC Media Day

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San Antonio FC, who begin their fourth season in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship in a few weeks, hosted their annual media day at Toyota Field yesterday. A few notes and observations from the event: The Stadium and Pitch Look Ready to Start the Season It will be interesting to see how the field holds up when the typical summer turf challenges present themselves. New USL expansion side and local rival Austin Bold have made it a point to emphasize how much attention they will pay to the quality of the playing field at Circuit of the Americas. Comparisons between how the two stadiums manage their turf this … Continue reading Notes from San Antonio FC Media Day

AmateurLeave a comment

Inocentes FC Plays for the UPSL Fall Championship Saturday

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Inocentes FC (IFC), a Ft. Worth based team in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL), has already had a dream first year. Two UPSL Central Conference Championships (Spring and Fall seasons) were followed by recognition as Club of the Year by Protagonist Soccer, a media organization that covers lower tier soccer in North America. The inaugural year’s work is not done for IFC, however, because the club has a chance to cap off this dream year with another trophy this weekend. The UPSL Fall National Champion will be crowned this Saturday evening when IFC travels to Southern California to meet … Continue reading Inocentes FC Plays for the UPSL Fall Championship Saturday

USL ChampionshipLeave a comment

San Antonio FC Begin Preseason with Plans to Return to the Postseason in 2019

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2018 began with high hopes for San Antonio FC. A solid base of returning players expressed a quiet confidence during preseason that they were ready to improve on the successful second place 2017 finish. Unfortunately, the season never really got untracked. An early 3-0 home loss to Orange County SC pointed to concerns, especially on the defensive side of the field, that persisted over the course of the season. Consistency was also an issue all year. A four game winning streak in July and early August was followed by a four game losing streak. SAFC then went on another winning … Continue reading San Antonio FC Begin Preseason with Plans to Return to the Postseason in 2019

USL ChampionshipLeave a comment

Notes from Austin Bold Media Day

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USL expansion team Austin Bold FC began their inaugural preseason on Monday and held the first Media Day at their Circuit of The Americas (COTA) location yesterday. A few random takeaways from the event: The Bold Will Operate From One of the Most Unique Soccer Facilities in the World This first becomes evident when you enter the facility grounds and try to navigate your way through the more than 30,000 onsite parking spaces to get to the proper lot, far more than will needed to handle any soccer crowd. The Bold will also be able to take advantage of the … Continue reading Notes from Austin Bold Media Day

Austin F.C., MLSLeave a comment

MLS Launches its Third Texas Club-Austin FC

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43 years after the San Antonio Spurs joined the National Basketball Association, the central part of Texas now has a second team in a high level national professional sports league. Austin FC was introduced as the 27th team in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States, during an unveiling ceremony on Tuesday afternoon.  MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Austin FC Chairman and CEO Anthony Precourt and Austin Mayor Steve Adler hosted the official launch in front of hundreds of passionate club supporters at a 6th Street Austin location. “We think about us (MLS) as a league … Continue reading MLS Launches its Third Texas Club-Austin FC

Austin F.C., MLS, USL Championship1 Comment

Austin’s Professional Soccer is TSJ’s Top Texas Story of 2018

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Austin Began 2018 with Zero Pro Soccer Teams and Ended with Two A book would be needed (and probably should be written) about the soap opera year in Austin professional soccer. After Columbus Crew owner Anthony Precourt announced late last year that he was exploring a relocation of his team to Austin, it set off a sequence of events that created front page news in both Austin and Columbus throughout the year. The first two stadium sites preferred by Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV) never got off the ground because of negative community reaction to the use of Austin parkland for … Continue reading Austin’s Professional Soccer is TSJ’s Top Texas Story of 2018

Austin F.C., FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, MLS, Texas Soccer History, US Open Cup2 Comments

Top 10 2018 Texas Soccer Stories # 5-1

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Link to Top 10 2018 Stories #10-6: #5: UPSL Builds Significant Momentum in Inaugural Season It is hard not to be impressed with the start-up of the United Professional Soccer League (UPSL) in Texas during 2018. This high level amateur league, since the first Texas teams were announced late in 2017, has rapidly expanded into a full fledged competition today. Successful Spring and Fall seasons were played during 2018 and the Conference is already planning to implement a promotion/relegation system in part of their Central Conference in 2019. A team in El Paso also began play in the Southwest Conference … Continue reading Top 10 2018 Texas Soccer Stories # 5-1

Amateur, FC Dallas, MLS, National Soccer Hall of Fame, NWSL (Houston Dash), Texas Soccer History, USL Championship2 Comments

Top 10 2018 Texas Soccer Stories: # 10-6

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First, Clint Dempsey announced his retirement from soccer on August 29. The Nacogdoches native is certainly the best male player ever to come from Texas and, arguably, also the best male player in U.S. Soccer history. During his career in MLS and England, Dempsey scored 129 goals. He also finished with 57 goals for the U.S. Mens National Team, tied for first all-time, and is the only American to score goals in three FIFA World Cups. Second, the 2026 FIFA World Cup was awarded to the joint bid from the U.S., Mexico and Canada in June. 17 finalist cities in … Continue reading Top 10 2018 Texas Soccer Stories: # 10-6