SAN ANTONIO — Austin FC and its fans arrived to Toyota Field hopeful to chase a trophy. They left with the sting of losing to a regional opponent from a lower league. In more ways than one, this one hurt.
Of course, losing 2-1 to San Antonio FC in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup won’t affect Verde’s standing in Major League Soccer. The club is off to a flying start, and sits second in the Western Conference.
Was this a fluke to be credited to the “magic of the Cup,” or a sign of larger cracks starting to form? Here are some takeaways from the Austin FC side of a historic night in Texas soccer.
Foiled by Farr
One of the storylines coming in was San Antonio siblings Matt and Tony Cardone, who’ve spent the past few years on opposite sides of the Central Texas soccer scene. We expected to see Matt Cardone in goal for the hosts, but instead, it was Jordan Farr, who’s been starting for SAFC in USL Championship play.
Now we know why. Farr made seven saves, including putting his body on the line for a collision with Felipe Martins in the 120th minute, plus five minutes of added time. He was immense, especially after conceding the opener to let Austin go in front 1-0.
“We were trying to score,” said midfielder Diego Fagúndez. “If you get the second one, the game is over. We just got unlucky. We couldn’t get in.”
But how much of it was really luck, and how much was an Austin FC team lacking bite in front of goal since an explosive start to the season?
Verde is currently tied for the MLS lead with 17 goals in league play. However, 10 of those came the first two weeks against FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami, when Austin was playing the free-flowing soccer that head coach Josh Wolff craves.
We saw plenty of pretty moves on Wednesday — dips and flicks and tricks from Sebastián Driussi, Diego Fagúndez and even Danny Hoesen and Felipe — but they didn’t result in many scoring opportunities in the first half.
The goal in the 47th minute was a thing of beauty. Fagúndez tucked in from the left wing and Driussi filled his spot, allowing for a lethal combination to put Fagúndez on goal for a smart finish.
Driussi subbed off in the 72nd minute which took away some of the creativity, but subs Dani Pereira and Maxi Urruti still brought plenty of quality to the pitch. They just didn’t quite click in the way that was needed to beat Farr.
Verde finished the night with 28 shots, including eight that were on target.
“I don't think we do enough with situations where we're in really good spots,” Wolff said. “We don't do do a good enough job in front of goal to finish off some plays. At one-zero, we had chances to make it 2-0. I think Diego and Felipe both. Defensively, I thought we were alright.”
In scramble mode, Verde pushed numbers forward and looked determined to pull some of the same magic we saw in the comeback against D.C. United. But on short rest, a determined SAFC defense won out.
“Towards the end, my legs just were giving up,” Fagúndez said. “It's tough. You don't [do] 120 minutes every day. If you finish it in 90 (minutes), now you're recovered for Saturday and now it's a quick turnaround.”
Depth tested
We’ve talked about the increased depth of Austin FC, and how it’s led to more competition and better results through the first seven weeks of MLS play. But this week, we saw some of the imperfections exposed.
Austin FC had to play the final 20 minutes of normal time and throughout extra time with only one true center back, Ruben Gabrielsen, on the pitch. Julio Cascante subbed out in the 64th what Wolff described as “something with the inside of his knee,” and Kipp Keller was suffering from cramps.
That meant Žan Kolmanič and Jon Gallagher had to do their best center back impressions, and Kolmanič was at least partially at fault on both goals.
“You do a rotation, but you can’t make excuses,” Fagúndez said.
Open Cup rules limited the bench to seven players instead of the nine that MLS allows. One of the players who stayed home was Jhohan Romaña, who just started training full-time again after several weeks out due to a hamstring injury.
Alex Ring, who filled in at center back last season, was also given a rest.
And now, after Fagúndez, Kolmanič and Jiménez all played 120 minutes, that depth will be tested even further on Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps at Q2 Stadium.
That’s the double-edged sword of committing some of your top players in pursuit of the Open Cup, although not everyone suited up in San Antonio.
“(Ring) got a little rest,” Wolff said. “He puts work in, along with Nick (Lima) knowing they’re probably going to see significant minutes. You only get 18 guys, so we made that decision. I talked with Alex about it. We had a good enough team here to win this game. We left some opportunities out there that we should just take. That’s the nature of this business.”
Big-game feel
While you might wish that Austin would have put less into this match, it’s worth mentioning just how good the atmosphere was at Toyota Field.
There were more than 500 supporters from Austin as part of a sold-out crowd of 7,922, and the intimacy of the venue made it every bit as loud as Q2 throughout the end of regulation and extra time. Sure, losing hurts, but these regional matches are what make the Open Cup so special.
“Texas soccer is great,” Wolff said. “I grew up in the South. I'd come play here in (youth) tournaments, and you know the quality is good, the competition is good, the fans and their understanding of the game is good. This is another example of that. A nice, small, tight, intimate, energetic stadium and it's a real positive for soccer in general. We would have wished it went the other direction, but they’ve got good fans and a nice stadium.”
If you’re looking for another positive, one is that Austin can now focus its full attention on league play and making the playoffs. But here’s to hoping this club and its fans continue to place an emphasis on the Open Cup.
