At the Whistle: Austin FC 2, Seattle Sounders FC 1
For the second straight match, Austin FC found a way to win at the very last moment. The win propels them into 6th place with just four regular-season games left.
On a rare Sunday evening home match — Austin FC's first home match since Aug. 30 — the hosts brought more delightful drama, beating Seattle Sounders FC, 2-1, thanks to an opening Diego Rubio goal, a Georgi Minoungou equalizer just over 30 seconds into the second half, steady goalkeeping from Brad Stuver to keep it from getting worse, and CJ Fodrey setting up Mytro Uzuni for the team's second straight win-at-the-death in five days.
Owen Wolff drew a foul in the second minute to get Sounders forward Danny Musovski a yellow card, and Rubio got chippy early, getting in some unwhistled fouls on Cristian Roldán. A coming together between Mikkel Desler and Paul Rothrock in the 15th minute led to Rothrock shoving Desler and Uzuni expressing his opinion, which led to referee Jair Marrufo to step in between the beefing players. Rothrock would get a yellow in the 28th for pushing Rubio from behind.
As far as soccer matters went, it took until the 10th minute, via a tame Obed Vargas roller toward goal, for Seattle to register the game's first shot and shot on goal, whereas it took Austin until the 25th minute to get just a shot, which is something you could call Besard Šabović hitting a shot six rows deep into Section 103 shortly after he took a free kick in a promising spot just outside the box and hit it straight into the wall.
The Sounders got a little more threatening about the half-hour mark with several attempts on goal, and in the 37th, got very close with Cristian Roldán hitting a shot that Stuver had to push onto the post to save.
Desler went down shortly after without contact, and Jon Gallagher entered the match for him with only 39 minutes and change elapsed, though Desler was able to walk off the field.
Two minutes later, though, Verde fans had something to cheer, when Rubio pounced on a bad Jackson Ragen pass and ran in on goal unimpeded for the score. (Well, unimpeded save for Sounders defender Yeimar touching Rubio's shoulder as he shot.)
Both teams had attempts on goal to close out the half, with Oleksandr Svatok interfering with an attempted Rothrock-to-Musovski connection that gave Sounders fans momentary hope, but the score remained the same at halftime.
It only took the Sounders 31 seconds back from halftime to score, with Cristian Roldán getting Musovski free down the right flank to send a cross to Minoungou, who beat Gallagher to the ball and scored.
As a bit of a coaching flex as the 60th minute arrived, Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer brought in Jordan Morris and Jesus Ferreria for Rothrock and Musovski before they could collect second yellows, whereas Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez countered with Dani Pereira and Osman Bukari for Sabović and Rubio.
Morris nearly rewarded that sub 12 minutes later, getting one-on-one with Stuver thanks to Ferreira leading him to goal with a solid pass, though Stuver was able to get a hand to the shot. Stuver similarly saved a Ferreira shot in the 82nd when he got a little more artlessly one-on-one than his teammate did.
A minute later, Verde got one of its better chances of the match on an Uzuni-led break, but instead of laying it off to Fodrey, who subbed in moments before, was making a far-post run, and only scores match winners, Uzuni took the shot himself, skying it badly.
In the second minute of second-half stoppage time, Fodrey forced Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas into a diving save with a deft header off a free kick, leading to a corner kick chance that came to nothing.
Then, the team engineered magic once again in the sixth (and what was supposed to be the) final minute of stoppage time, with Dani Pereira firing a pass from outside the box to Fodrey, who headed across goal to set up Uzuni for the easy finish.
Incredible finish, y'all.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
We've got to talk about Stuver's stop on Morris. That ended up preserving a draw that looked precariously close to become a loss in that moment.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
It's never fun to see a Verde player come off the field, especially when it's a player of Desler's caliber 10 days before an Open Cup final.
One thing you might have missed
At the opening kickoff, for some reason we're not quite able to figure out, Wolff, Rubio, and Kolmanič started out all clustered on the east end sideline ... right near where Wolff drew the second-minute yellow card.
One nerdy tidbit
Stuver started the night with 610 saves, just 10 away from tying Tony Meola's record for most MLS saves in a five-year regular season stretch. If the league's tally is correct, he ended the night with 614. (Update: It was not; he's now up to 615.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Verde's now created two game-winning goals in four days that, if you're a Verde fan, will live in your memories for as long as you love this team. Also, Austin moves up to 6th with the win, just a point and a place below Seattle.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Clearly, we're going to ask about Desler's health. (And the team's incredible flair for drama.)
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.
With three dramatic 2-1 wins in their most recent four matches, the September version of Austin FC is more fun than the version that dropped points earlier in the season.
CJ Fodrey was the hero on Wednesday night, in part because of Nico Estévez's belief in him. Also, we saw Estévez as perhaps the happiest he's been since coming to Austin.
On a rare Sunday evening home match — Austin FC's first home match since Aug. 30 — the hosts brought more delightful drama, beating Seattle Sounders FC, 2-1, thanks to an opening Diego Rubio goal, a Georgi Minoungou equalizer just over 30 seconds into the second half, steady goalkeeping from Brad Stuver to keep it from getting worse, and CJ Fodrey setting up Mytro Uzuni for the team's second straight win-at-the-death in five days.
Owen Wolff drew a foul in the second minute to get Sounders forward Danny Musovski a yellow card, and Rubio got chippy early, getting in some unwhistled fouls on Cristian Roldán. A coming together between Mikkel Desler and Paul Rothrock in the 15th minute led to Rothrock shoving Desler and Uzuni expressing his opinion, which led to referee Jair Marrufo to step in between the beefing players. Rothrock would get a yellow in the 28th for pushing Rubio from behind.
As far as soccer matters went, it took until the 10th minute, via a tame Obed Vargas roller toward goal, for Seattle to register the game's first shot and shot on goal, whereas it took Austin until the 25th minute to get just a shot, which is something you could call Besard Šabović hitting a shot six rows deep into Section 103 shortly after he took a free kick in a promising spot just outside the box and hit it straight into the wall.
The Sounders got a little more threatening about the half-hour mark with several attempts on goal, and in the 37th, got very close with Cristian Roldán hitting a shot that Stuver had to push onto the post to save.
Desler went down shortly after without contact, and Jon Gallagher entered the match for him with only 39 minutes and change elapsed, though Desler was able to walk off the field.
Two minutes later, though, Verde fans had something to cheer, when Rubio pounced on a bad Jackson Ragen pass and ran in on goal unimpeded for the score. (Well, unimpeded save for Sounders defender Yeimar touching Rubio's shoulder as he shot.)
Both teams had attempts on goal to close out the half, with Oleksandr Svatok interfering with an attempted Rothrock-to-Musovski connection that gave Sounders fans momentary hope, but the score remained the same at halftime.
It only took the Sounders 31 seconds back from halftime to score, with Cristian Roldán getting Musovski free down the right flank to send a cross to Minoungou, who beat Gallagher to the ball and scored.
As a bit of a coaching flex as the 60th minute arrived, Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer brought in Jordan Morris and Jesus Ferreria for Rothrock and Musovski before they could collect second yellows, whereas Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez countered with Dani Pereira and Osman Bukari for Sabović and Rubio.
Morris nearly rewarded that sub 12 minutes later, getting one-on-one with Stuver thanks to Ferreira leading him to goal with a solid pass, though Stuver was able to get a hand to the shot. Stuver similarly saved a Ferreira shot in the 82nd when he got a little more artlessly one-on-one than his teammate did.
A minute later, Verde got one of its better chances of the match on an Uzuni-led break, but instead of laying it off to Fodrey, who subbed in moments before, was making a far-post run, and only scores match winners, Uzuni took the shot himself, skying it badly.
In the second minute of second-half stoppage time, Fodrey forced Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas into a diving save with a deft header off a free kick, leading to a corner kick chance that came to nothing.
Then, the team engineered magic once again in the sixth (and what was supposed to be the) final minute of stoppage time, with Dani Pereira firing a pass from outside the box to Fodrey, who headed across goal to set up Uzuni for the easy finish.
Incredible finish, y'all.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
We've got to talk about Stuver's stop on Morris. That ended up preserving a draw that looked precariously close to become a loss in that moment.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
It's never fun to see a Verde player come off the field, especially when it's a player of Desler's caliber 10 days before an Open Cup final.
One thing you might have missed
At the opening kickoff, for some reason we're not quite able to figure out, Wolff, Rubio, and Kolmanič started out all clustered on the east end sideline ... right near where Wolff drew the second-minute yellow card.
One nerdy tidbit
Stuver started the night with 610 saves, just 10 away from tying Tony Meola's record for most MLS saves in a five-year regular season stretch. If the league's tally is correct, he ended the night with 614. (Update: It was not; he's now up to 615.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Verde's now created two game-winning goals in four days that, if you're a Verde fan, will live in your memories for as long as you love this team. Also, Austin moves up to 6th with the win, just a point and a place below Seattle.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Clearly, we're going to ask about Desler's health. (And the team's incredible flair for drama.)
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.
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