Despite multiple attempts in the post-match press conference by members of the press corps to get Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff to weigh in on his team’s improbable path to the playoffs, following a 1-0 win at Providence Park over Portland Timbers FC on Wednesday, he remained steadfast that the goal is to keep pushing to climb the hill deemed insurmountable.
The state of the table requires Portland to lose its two remaining games, and for Austin to win both of its matches and erase what now stands as an 18-goal gap in goal differential. The math is not mathing, as this generation’s kids would say.
In a completely different context, perhaps at a completely different and more hopeful juncture of the season, the historic shutout would have Verde fans blowing off work in the morning and partying as late as bars are open on Wednesday nights. The axe-wielding Cascadians deployed all of their top starters and peppered Brad Stuver with 26 shots in an attempt to secure their place in the playoffs, all to naught.
