For 82 minutes, it was dreadful soccer. Then it was pretty great for Austin fans.
In its home finale for the 2025 season, Austin FC beat LAFC 1-0 on Sunday evening on an 83rd-minute Owen Wolff goal, turning arguably the least entertaining soccer match of the year into one delivering another magical moment of late-game heroics.
The teams combined for just five shots in the first 80 minutes of the match, ending up with five total shots for LAFC and three for Austin FC.
But Wolff came through with one of Austin's two shots on goal for his sixth goal of the season, days after being named to the top tier of MLS's 22 Under 22 list. With the win, Verde's guaranteed the sixth seed in the West playoffs regardless of what happens on Decision Day on Saturday.
Verde started out with some offensive intent and a mind to possess, with Osman Bukari forcing a yellow card for Eddie Segura with a deft move necessitating that level of foul to stop Bukari from slipping past him en route to goal.
Ilie Sánchez committed his own yellow card foul in the 17th minute to allow LAFC's first dangerous chance of the night – a Jeremy Ebobisse attempt that just skimmed over the bar.
CJ Fodrey nearly had himself a sneaky goal in the 26th, sliding on to a lazily dribbled ball LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was planning to send, and nearly bundling in successfully before Lloris kept his bearings on getting the ball away.
Wolff did win his own corner in the 37th, leading to him sending up a floater to Fodrey, which he headed over the bar.
Perhaps LAFC's best chance in the first half came in the 41st minute, when Mateja Đorđević fell down heading a cross away, putting it into the path of Ebobisse, who scooped his shot off.
On the whole, it was a first half in which it was clear that each team had scoring leaders missing. (Despite the fourth official holding up a sign for two minutes of stoppage time, the referee whistled the half over after about 15 seconds.)
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
After a sluggish return from halftime, the teams came a bit to life just before the hour mark, with Andrew Moran getting a shot on target in the 58th and Jon Gallagher doing the same a minute later.
Nico Estévez engineered some 70th minute subs, getting Žan Kolmanič in for Gallagher and Jáder Obrian for Fodrey. In the 77th, with not much else going on, Estévez got on Robert Taylor for Bukari and Nicolás Dubersarsky coming on for Ilie.
Both teams tried to draw penalties in the 80th minute to no avail, and then Nkosi Tafari had a marauding run into the box to force a Brad Stuver kick save in the 81st.
Following the goal, Besard Šabović came in for Dani Pereira to help close out the match. Verde weathered the five minutes of stoppage time and held on against what could end up being their first-round playoff opponent.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
I don't know about best, but Stuver coming out of his box in the 71st to crane kick a ball out of danger delighted the press box. There were also some good ball-handling by Obrian and Wolff in the 79th to keep possession despite pressure.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 30th minute, Guilherme Biro stopped a promising attack by making a long pass to where Fodrey might have decided to go, but he veered left instead of right even before the ball was off Biro's foot ... unless it was intended for Wolff, and in that case, it just missed significantly.
One thing you might have missed
At Verde All Day, we are fans of the ref cam, and we now keep an iPad with the broadcast going so we can do our own replays as needed. Imagine our delight when the ref cam turned on Pereira late in the first half, who got a talking to toward after a near-yellow-card foul and got captured on ref cam giving what I'm calling a "scolded schoolboy" expression. (Go to 39:47 on the replay; you'll be glad you did.)
One nerdy tidbit
This was the xG at minute 58 before Moran's shot per MLS' count. Within a minute of this, each team got exactly one shot on target each.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
After some peaks and valleys, Austin's on 47 points with a chance to hit the 50 threshold next week, and finally have a win to extract some momentum going into the postseason.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Who does Verde want as the three seed against them? I don't expect it gets answered.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
Austin FC showed grit and resilience in its Saturday night win over SKC. However, several results around the conference made the playoff table match increasingly dire.
Austin FC fell behind in the second half but got two goals from Myrto Uzuni to secure the rare road win. The win allows them to evade an ignoble fate dating back to 2021.
Austin FC plays SKC tomorrow in its first elimination scenario match of 2026. We checked in with an SKC expert to learn how the team's changed since playing Verde in May.
Ervin Torres was named to the 2026 edition of MLS' 22 Under 22 list. We explore how he compares to the best version of the first Verde 22 Under 22 player.
In its home finale for the 2025 season, Austin FC beat LAFC 1-0 on Sunday evening on an 83rd-minute Owen Wolff goal, turning arguably the least entertaining soccer match of the year into one delivering another magical moment of late-game heroics.
The teams combined for just five shots in the first 80 minutes of the match, ending up with five total shots for LAFC and three for Austin FC.
But Wolff came through with one of Austin's two shots on goal for his sixth goal of the season, days after being named to the top tier of MLS's 22 Under 22 list. With the win, Verde's guaranteed the sixth seed in the West playoffs regardless of what happens on Decision Day on Saturday.
Verde started out with some offensive intent and a mind to possess, with Osman Bukari forcing a yellow card for Eddie Segura with a deft move necessitating that level of foul to stop Bukari from slipping past him en route to goal.
Ilie Sánchez committed his own yellow card foul in the 17th minute to allow LAFC's first dangerous chance of the night – a Jeremy Ebobisse attempt that just skimmed over the bar.
CJ Fodrey nearly had himself a sneaky goal in the 26th, sliding on to a lazily dribbled ball LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was planning to send, and nearly bundling in successfully before Lloris kept his bearings on getting the ball away.
Wolff did win his own corner in the 37th, leading to him sending up a floater to Fodrey, which he headed over the bar.
Perhaps LAFC's best chance in the first half came in the 41st minute, when Mateja Đorđević fell down heading a cross away, putting it into the path of Ebobisse, who scooped his shot off.
On the whole, it was a first half in which it was clear that each team had scoring leaders missing. (Despite the fourth official holding up a sign for two minutes of stoppage time, the referee whistled the half over after about 15 seconds.)
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
After a sluggish return from halftime, the teams came a bit to life just before the hour mark, with Andrew Moran getting a shot on target in the 58th and Jon Gallagher doing the same a minute later.
Nico Estévez engineered some 70th minute subs, getting Žan Kolmanič in for Gallagher and Jáder Obrian for Fodrey. In the 77th, with not much else going on, Estévez got on Robert Taylor for Bukari and Nicolás Dubersarsky coming on for Ilie.
Both teams tried to draw penalties in the 80th minute to no avail, and then Nkosi Tafari had a marauding run into the box to force a Brad Stuver kick save in the 81st.
Following the goal, Besard Šabović came in for Dani Pereira to help close out the match. Verde weathered the five minutes of stoppage time and held on against what could end up being their first-round playoff opponent.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
I don't know about best, but Stuver coming out of his box in the 71st to crane kick a ball out of danger delighted the press box. There were also some good ball-handling by Obrian and Wolff in the 79th to keep possession despite pressure.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 30th minute, Guilherme Biro stopped a promising attack by making a long pass to where Fodrey might have decided to go, but he veered left instead of right even before the ball was off Biro's foot ... unless it was intended for Wolff, and in that case, it just missed significantly.
One thing you might have missed
At Verde All Day, we are fans of the ref cam, and we now keep an iPad with the broadcast going so we can do our own replays as needed. Imagine our delight when the ref cam turned on Pereira late in the first half, who got a talking to toward after a near-yellow-card foul and got captured on ref cam giving what I'm calling a "scolded schoolboy" expression. (Go to 39:47 on the replay; you'll be glad you did.)
One nerdy tidbit
This was the xG at minute 58 before Moran's shot per MLS' count. Within a minute of this, each team got exactly one shot on target each.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
After some peaks and valleys, Austin's on 47 points with a chance to hit the 50 threshold next week, and finally have a win to extract some momentum going into the postseason.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Who does Verde want as the three seed against them? I don't expect it gets answered.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
Read Next
'They dug in': In praise of Austin FC for staving off the (seemingly) inevitable
Austin FC showed grit and resilience in its Saturday night win over SKC. However, several results around the conference made the playoff table match increasingly dire.
At the Whistle: Sporting Kansas City 1, Austin FC 2
Austin FC fell behind in the second half but got two goals from Myrto Uzuni to secure the rare road win. The win allows them to evade an ignoble fate dating back to 2021.
Foreign Exchange: Three questions with the Kansas City Star's Daniel Sperry
Austin FC plays SKC tomorrow in its first elimination scenario match of 2026. We checked in with an SKC expert to learn how the team's changed since playing Verde in May.
Getting recognized: What Ervin Torres making the 22 Under 22 means for his future (and Austin FC's)
Ervin Torres was named to the 2026 edition of MLS' 22 Under 22 list. We explore how he compares to the best version of the first Verde 22 Under 22 player.