Austin FC Goes Out in Style in Q2 Stadium Finale

Defender Julio Cascante celebrates scoring the second of three Austin FC goals during a win over Sporting Kansas City in the season's final match at Q2 Stadium (photo courtesy of Austin FC)

As the wail of bagpipes and the bite of sub-50-degree rain brought a distinctly Celtic atmosphere to Q2 Stadium Wednesday night, somebody inside the Austin FC locker room must have caught on and queued some Dropkick Murphys on the pregame setlist:

I've seen a lot of sights and traveled many miles
Shook a thousand hands and seen my share of smiles
Roast me to a blackened crisp and throw me in a pile
I could really give a shit, I'm going out in style

Battered, bruised, and well out of contention for anything tangible in 2021, Austin FC played like a team desperate to give its fans one last performance to remember from an unforgettably forgettable first season of MLS in Austin. They did that, dominating Western Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City 3-1 in the Verde’s home finale.

The pregame signs were ominous and not just because of the weather. Coach Josh Wolff found his club more shorthanded than ever in defense with Jhohan Romaña, Matt Besler, and Hector Jiménez all unavailable and Nick Lima a late scratch due to an injury in warm-ups. The solution? Just play more attackers, apparently. The move paid off immediately with the quickest goal – and, arguably, the most well-crafted goal – in club history.

Eight different Austin FC players completed a pass during the Verde’s very first possession as the ball made its way from goalkeeper Brad Stuver to Diego Fagundez in the Kansas City penalty area. Fagundez floated a pass across goal to the right side of the box where Jared Stroud stood unmarked. Stroud then nodded the ball to the back post, where a charging Sebastián Driussi got his forehead to it to finish things off. The clock had barely ticked 30 seconds. Very full cups of beer flew into the south stand sky.

Austin FC has been suspect holding onto early leads throughout the season, which made Julio Cascante’s set-piece goal in the 22nd minute a welcome sight for the Verde to double the lead. Žan Kolmanič provided an excellent cross into the box from a free kick, which Cascante — tangling with Kansas City forward and Leander native Khiry Shelton — knocked past keeper Tim Melia with his forehead.

The halftime whistle came at an opportune time for Austin FC as Sporting KC had begun to apply heavy pressure. But the Oaks wrestled back control out of the break and made it 3-0 in the 60th minute. Once again Fagundez had the vision to pick out Jared Stroud with a pass across goal, and the New Jersey native pounded the ball into the side netting for his first goal of the season. It was the cherry on top of a Man of the Match performance from Stroud, who made the very most of a rare starting opportunity after falling to bench duty for the second half of the season.

“I was bringing it in practice every week, but that’s not really something that people see everyday. I’m proud of my work ethic and it kind of all paid off tonight,” Stroud said post-match.

Johnny Russell scored with a deadly header in the 65th minute to bring Sporting KC back to 3-1 down, but that’s all the visitors would manage before the final whistle. Despite holding just 38% of the possession and sharing the shots total at 13-a-piece, Austin FC were deserving winners and demonstrated that, on their night, they have what it takes to punish the league’s best who travel to Q2 Stadium expecting an easy win. They led in expected goals tally, 2.5 to 0.6.

“Tonight, to get a performance like this, I talked about making this a good performance and making it a big memory, and our guys came with that from the opening whistle,” Wolff said. “It was such a tremendous effort by our guys, and a selflessness that was everything that we talk about with this group.”

The three points earned did matter in one small but significant way: They ensured Austin FC will not finish the season in last place in the West, vaulting over the Houston Dynamo, who concluded their season Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Austin FC has one more match, Sunday on the road in Portland, to close out the 2021 season. The Oaks have played some of their best soccer this year against the Timbers, winning both prior matches by a combined score of 7-2.

After Wednesday’s match, players dedicated a final moment of appreciation to the ATX fanbase, holding aloft a banner that read “HASTA LA MUERTE” while fans sung Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In The End,” an unofficial club anthem. Captain Alex Ring got on the mic to give thanks.

Wednesday’s victory closed the first chapter of Major League Soccer in Austin with a delicious cliff hanger. Austin FC is not going anywhere and neither, it would seem, is the now-famous Q2 atmosphere. When both return in the spring, maybe, just maybe, Round 1 of 2022 will look more like Round 17 of 2021.

Read more Austin FC coverage – including Eric Goodman’s weekly column, The Verde Report – at austinchronicle.com/austin-fc. Follow him on Twitter: @goodman.