AUSTIN – Even before Sunday’s 2-1 Western Conference Semifinal win over their in-state rivals FC Dallas, Austin FC supporters were already daring to dream about the next step, to speculate about the matchup that awaits their team in the next round. A few bold planners even went so far as to buy their flights ahead of time to give themselves the best possible chance to be there in person.
We’re talking about a high-stakes rematch with LAFC, of course.
In a relative rarity on the unpredictable landscape of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, the 2022 West bracket has gone chalk, serving up No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Conference Final on Oct. 30 (3 pm ET | ABC, ESPN3). Having beaten the Californians twice this season, Austin have reasons to feel optimistic, even if head coach Josh Wolff declined to wade too deeply into those waters in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s victory at Q2 Stadium.
“We're excited that by the performance tonight, obviously the result. When you get to this stage, it's about winning. LAFC is and has been the best team all year. I don't think that's wavered one bit,” said Wolff. “We've played them twice, they are extremely difficult to play against and we've done it a couple of different ways. But they'll be prepared. They've made some additions, as have we, and we'll have to let the guys enjoy tonight, and we'll let this soak in. But we'll get back to work Wednesday. They are who they are. They're a very good team.”
Wolff himself has squeezed every bit of motivational juice imaginable out of perceived slights to his squad this year, which may help explain why he went to such lengths to show respect to his former US men’s national team teammate Steve Cherundolo’s Supporters’ Shield winners. At least one of his players was slightly less deferential, though.
“We have to make sure that we're ready for it, which we are; we're going to be battling. And I think after seeing this game, they might be a little worried,” said ATX winger Diego Fagúndez when asked by a reporter if LAFC would be concerned about facing Austin. “But at the same time, the games are played on the field.”
To some extent, you can track Austin’s climb from expansion newbies to title contenders via their four meetings with the Black & Gold. Wolff’s side visited Banc of California Stadium in their first-ever match, falling 2-0 on the opening day of 2021, then again by the same scoreline at Q2 three months later as the frustrating losses added up en route to a 24th-place finish in the overall MLS table.
They flipped the script in 2022, stunning LAFC in Los Angeles on May 18. An opportunistic early goal from defender Ruben Gabrielsen tilted the game states, allowing the Texans to soak up pressure and strike again in the 80th minute on the counter via Fagúndez, before weathering a ferocious late rally from their hosts for a 2-1 result Wolff dubbed a “statement win.”
ATX were far more authoritative in LAFC’s trip to Q2 in sweltering late-August heat, pressing and probing fiercely and racking up four goals in the match’s first hour en route to a head-turning 4-1 win that highlighted their dramatic year-over-year turnaround.
“We got a taste of our own medicine tonight,” Cherundolo conceded afterwards.
Austin readily acknowledge the inherent difficulty in beating a team for a third time in a season; after all, the shoe was on the other foot on Sunday as they defeated Dallas for the first time in six tries. And the value of home-field advantage has been underlined in this postseason, with FC Cincinnati and New York City FC the only lower-seeded teams to advance so far.
“It gives us a little bit of a blueprint of how we did it before. But it's also very difficult in this league to beat teams consecutively across seasons,” said goalkeeper Brad Stuver. “They'll have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder that we beat them in LA earlier this year, and that we beat them here. So they're going to use that as a driving force. we're definitely going to be the ones that need to take it to them. And they're the ones that are going to have kind of a target on our back.”
Still, there’s ample fodder for hope as ATX – and probably a few hundred of their fans – prepare to jet to Banc of California Stadium for another watershed occasion in their brief history. And they’re quite aware that should they plot a course past the regular-season champs, an NYCFC win over Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Final would even allow them to host MLS Cup back at Q2.
“Hopefully we can keep going,” said Fagúndez. “And you never know, we might have a final here.”
