'We're trying everything to win games here': Reflections on a second straight Copa Tejas home draw

Austin FC's not losing games these days — they're now unbeaten in their last six matches, including their most recent Open Cup PK win — but they're also not winning, with Saturday's 1-1 draw against FC Dallas moving their home league record to seven draws vs. four wins and two losses.

And Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez feels for the fans who left Q2 Stadium frustrated.

"I have to send a message to our fans, because we're trying everything to win games here," he said. "The one thing that we most desire, the one thing that must frustrate us, because we want to win with our fans. We know how much sacrifices they do, how much they support us. They were behind us all the time, every game, but today, we felt it again, and we were able to tie the game because they were helping. And it's a pity that we cannot close those games and win it, and we have to just keep working."

He noted that while he called for some adjustments to speed up ball circulation at halftime, which resulted in better play — including Owen Wolff's first goal at Q2 Stadium — that desire to win might have impacted the final product in the wrong way.

"What I feel is the emotion to give a win to the fans here sometimes make us rush, and in the last passes, in the last actions, and we have to learn how to manage better those emotions and from the beginning, try to get more continuous chances against the opponent."

But he's also seeing the match as a sign that the team is getting better as the season progresses.

"We've improved a lot in our style of play and the way that we're playing, how we are dominating games and opponents, and we're imposing our style of play," he observed.

Likening the season to a marathon, he added, "You have moments in the marathon that you feel really good, other moments that you're struggling. You have to be mentally really strong, because every team is playing for the same goal and the same objective. We have to be consistent.

"And these results that we don't deserve to have, don't have to put us in like a sad mode, you know? It has to give us motivation to try to overcome these moments and results, because the performances are saying a different thing."

Concerns up top

Despite Wolff's goal, Verde were still only able to muster just one on the night — and while there's an argument to be made that Myrto Uzuni should have earned a penalty being taken down late in the match on a Jáder Obrian-led breakaway — the 18 touches and one shot indicate a second straight match in which the designated player displayed offensive anemia.

"Think about how Dallas was defending," Estévez said. "He had three players, a strong, physical ... they were all the time, grabbing him, pushing him, not letting him play comfortably. Even [with] that, he found some moments where he could be dangerous. And some of the times we didn't find [him] well with the passes, but other times we did it.

"These games are difficult for the forward because you are not touching the ball much, he added. "And sometimes, when he comes, he comes with a lot of traffic. There are a lot of players around, and it's difficult for those. We hope now that we are going to play in a way to have a little bit more space and find him in better positions, but we keep working."

Again, Estévez invoked expected goals, which did favor Austin, though American Soccer Analysis' numbers reflected an underwhelming showing for both sides.

Stuver ascribed the goal let in to "a really funky play where we win the ball, they win it back, we challenge for it, it gets deflected again."

Here's the moment when Shaq Moore (the wide-open player on the right) shoots.

The player nearest to Moore is Wolff. The defense is caught up in the chaos, dealing with the players in the middle, but vulnerable on the outside — which was characteristic of Verde throughout the first half.

It's still progress, though

Goalkeeper Brad Stuver didn't quite acknowledge the frustration in the same way his coach did, given the team's recent body of work — 4-1-3 in the last eight league matches.

"We're on a two-game win streak away from home," he observed. "Because we didn't get the points we needed at home, we need to pick them up away from home. So for us, it's just staying motivated to get the three points in Montréal," which would indeed get Verde closer to only the club's second playoff appearance in its five-year history.

With the draw, and with two more Western Conference matches to be played on Sunday, Verde are 8th in the table, with a 9-8-8 record and a -5 goal differential that would likely not favor Austin if that factors into tiebreaking. (Wins are the first tiebreaker, and right now, San Jose has just eight, while 10th-place RSL has nine.)

Unless you're eager to see Austin in a play-in match involving San Jose, you're rooting for San Diego to beat the Quakes, and then just so newly-crowned Copa Tejas winners Houston don't get any ideas about moving within reach of playoff positions, you're also all Vancouver fans tonight.

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