Is this weird sensation … hope?
And is this weird experience for Austin, unlike anything it’s gone through since July 15 … a win?
Indeed, Austin FC rode the wave of two first-half goals from Will Bruin (back from one of the worst misses of his MLS career) and Sebastián Driussi (back from injury) to a 3-0 triumph at Q2 Stadium on Wednesday night, blowing on the feeble ember that is Austin’s 2023 playoff hopes and generating a spark.
The win happened before one of the least robust crowds of the season, given that it was a weeknight in October for a team that looked to be playing its penultimate home match of 2023.
It was still officially a sellout in the books to keep the three-year streak going, but empty seats around the stadium indicated some would be productive at their jobs on Thursday, while less prudent but happier fans got to celebrate one of the team’s most comprehensive wins of the snakebitten 2023 season.
After a first half in which a lot of balls bounced Austin’s way to get their defense out of jams and help their offense out, the second half had its share of scary moments — leading some to wonder if the win would indeed hold.
For fans who saw Verde lose a two-goal lead after the 85th minute in their last home match, it was understandable they were watching the first minutes of the final 45 anxiously — especially once Christian Benteke hit a 56th-minute shot that beat Verde ‘keeper Brad Stuver but was called offside. (Stuver would say after the match that the refs “bailed [him] out” on the play.)
A 64th-minute corner-kick header from sub Matt Hedges, who came on for Leo Väisänen moments earlier for what turned out to be heat exhaustion, put Austin in what would ultimately stand as the final margin.
