'Winning is really important': Reveling in a second straight win vaulting Austin FC to second place

Looking at the first seven matches on the 2025 Austin FC schedule, it certainly appeared that wins were possible, though two of the unlikeliest among those were LAFC away — a test for any MLS team — and hosting a San Diego FC that started the season undefeated in four matches.

And yet, with the 2-1 win over the expansion team on Sunday, Austin FC has three wins in five tries during the young 2025 season, sitting second place behind perhaps-equally-surprising Vancouver in a Western Conference that has LAFC in third (also on nine points) and then teams four through 11 registering at least six points after five matches.

"We knew that we could exploit the transition moments, the space behind the back line," said Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez after the match. "Overall, [we're] happy for the win, because at the end of the day, winning is really important, and put us in a good position. Winning two games in a row is also good. But we know we have to keep getting better, keep progressing."

Estévez, like several of his players, rued not scoring more, as Brandon Vázquez in particular had multiple chances to add a second or even third goal to the one he did (finally) get in the 10th minute, ending a season-starting 370-minute drought for both him personally and for the team getting a goal from open play.

Vázquez said after the match that he was happy to get his first goal — especially having it come at home and against the team playing in the city where he grew up, and just across the border from where he started his pro career. However, he expressed disappointment that he missed on those chances to score more.

The winning goal — which had to stand for over an hour after San Diego FC brought the margin to 2-1 — came on a heads-up play from Owen Wolff, now grouped with 11 other players in the three-assist club, just behind Kai Wagner (with five) and Pep Biel (with four) in the MLS assists race.

All Wolff's assists have come from set pieces so far, but Sunday's was unique — on a quickly-taken restart that left the visitors stunned and the home fans delighted.

"Something that we talk [about is that] the best set piece is the one that you see the opponent not organized," Estévez said. "And then we talk about quick restarts, [how] they could hurt not only San Diego, other other teams, because players tend to use the moment to have a fresh air and breathe and then go."

He added, regarding executing in the way Wolff did, "We can talk [about] it, but at the end, it's a credit to Owen, because he's a player that has this instinct that street players have ... he did a really good job on that, and we're really happy that he decided that because that helped us."

Jon Gallagher, the happy recipient of that heads-up play, noted that he and Wolff first noticed San Diego might be susceptible to such a play while taking ice baths together and watching video on the opponents."

"We made eye contact real quick, and I just took off," Gallagher said of the moment, which started with two San Diego players with their backs to the ball after the foul was whistled. "And I think he knew ... they didn't kick the ball away or anything. So it was perfect ... We watched the video and, like, there's a split second, I look and I'm on my bike. Owen just kicks it. I do my thing. I run."

And there's something else to take from the match, largely thanks to Wolff — Verde players got into some advantageous one-v-one situations thanks to smart passing, and as MLS Analtyics shows us, shot selection in this match was much better overall compared to prior 2025 matches.

Congesting the midfield

Estévez said that the defensive plan involved deploying central midfielders to block passing lanes, which included starting Wolff and Dani Pereira on the wings. The passing network map from the match shows tight average positions for players reflecting much of the defensive work they were doing.

(A couple of notes on this: The initial passing map here had a glitch that obscured positions; this is a more accurate rendering showing the disparity between Vázquez and Diego Rubio's positioning as forwards (with Rubio, designated here as LF, in line with the midfielders), and Wolff (the CAM) up even higher than Vázquez, along with how tucked in the fullbacks were. As MLSAnalytics' Sebastian Bush told me, the passing maps show data from the team's initial formation to when the formation shifts ... which, in Verde's case, is at halftime (whereas SDFC stayed in a 4-3-3 for the first 73 minutes).

"I wanted to try something different," Estévez said, noting his inspiration came from watching San Diego's opening weekend tilt against the LA Galaxy, which put the rest of the league on notice about how good the expansion team might be. "And then we just came up with, as a staff, with this idea of it was going to be a midfield battle, and then we just need to have midfielders in to win the midfield battle."

Gallagher also noted that the coaching staff prepared them well for what they needed to do defensively.

"As we're told this week by the coaching staff, they lead the league and runs behind the line, and they want space in behind, want to suck you into the middle and then play it over the top," he said. "So we knew we were going to sit a bit lower and hit them on the transition.

"San Diego is a team where they want the space in behind, and we didn't give that to them," he added. "Once you nullify that, I felt that they didn't have a lot."

(We're going to skip the graphic that shows 90/10 field tilt for SDFC, but know that it exists.)

The most DP-like performance didn't come from a DP

Another uneven performance from Osman Bukari — getting a 31-minute sub role, credited with one shot on target plus some other chances left wanting, plus one potential assist for Vázquez reflecting that they're still learning each other's rhythms – led me to ask about the theory that's been floating about: Is Bukari observing Ramadan and its dawn-to-dusk fasting requirements, and is that affecting his game?

From the press box, we were able to see that he did drink water during a break in the action, and Estévez confirmed post-match that he's not fasting — but merely working through a rough patch.

"I think sometimes players just need a reset," he said of his most senior designated player. "There are things that he started really well, had really good position ... but players have moments. They're humans, you know," before pointing out that Vázquez was on a scoreless streak prior to Sunday, but on the day, "he could have score a hat trick, and I'm really happy that he has scored.

"In Buka, we couldn't find him in those situations," he added. "Right now, it's about building his confidence, working with the player. And it's managing."

Wolff, on the other hand, led the team in goals added ratings and continued to show the leap that's made from last season to this season. (Also, the line shows where on the player's career G+ distribution this particular match was; per that metric, borne out by the eye test, Wolff has once of his best matches ever.)

"Everyone can see how every single game, he adds something else to his game," Estévez declared. "He's became one of the important players on the team. When things are tough, he's communicating with players. He's changing things on the field. He's communicating with the bench. And we just have to be patient with a young player like him, because he's giving the right steps. And just we have to enjoy, how many assists he [could have] had today, if our attackers scored the goal, could be maybe a record in the league today.

"He's providing a lot on the defensive side," he added. "Defensively he's working really, really hard. I think he's becoming that consistent, connected player that can make a difference in this league."

On the whole, it was a positive result from a Verde squad that could have run up the score, but did enough to secure a win and a trajectory toward the playoffs.

"We definitely were more threatening today," Gallagher said, in response to my question about whether Austin was now closer to the "scoring in bags and bunches" prediction he floated on Thursday. "I would have loved to have had that third goal to give us a bit of a cushion, but we love to make it interesting at Q2."

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