Austin FC Loses Footing vs. Earthquakes as Two-Goal Lead Slides Away in San Jose
Game starts with a banger of a goal from Maxi Urruti, ends with a whimper
By Eric Goodman, 11:10AM, Sun. Apr. 3, 2022
Austin FC powered to the precipice of ending an 11-month road winless streak but ultimately could only manage a draw as the San Jose Earthquakes erased a 2-0 Verde lead at PayPal Park Saturday night.
A wondergoal by Maxi Urruti and strike from the penalty spot by Sebastián Driussi were cancelled out by consecutive San Jose goals in the 70th and 72nd minutes — a Jeremy Ebobisse penalty and a corner kick goal from Cade Cowell — as the Earthquakes proved once again to be a nuisance for Josh Wolff and company.
“We let them off the hook,” Wolff said after the match. "We missed a number of opportunities in the first half, we had an opportunity to make it 3-0 early in the second half, and that would have been the knockout blow.”
Austin FC started the away tilt well, punctuated by Urruti’s exceptional volley from distance in the 11th minute that will be difficult to top for the club’s best goal of 2022. It was the Argentine striker’s first goal in a Verde shirt.
OMG! MAXI URRUTI WITH A BANGER! 💥 pic.twitter.com/LAtGog96bY
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 2, 2022
Ethan Finlay and Alex Ring both wasted away quality chances late in the first half as the Oaks kept their foot on the gas, outshooting San Jose 7-4 through 45 minutes, a stat that would take an about-face later in the match. But first, in the 51st minute Dani Pereira embarked on a daring run into the San Jose penalty box and drew contact from Earthquakes captain Jackson Yueill. Austin FC was awarded a penalty kick which Driussi emphatically dispatched past SJ keeper JT Marcinkowski to make it 2-0 to the Trees.
It proved to be Austin FC’s second-to-last shot of the match as the club receded into a defensive approach, absorbing ramped-up pressure from the hosts. The ATX goal came under fire from 13 second-half shots, forcing Brad Stuver into his highest save tally of the season so far at nine. However, he wasn’t able to stop Ebobisse’s penalty in the 70th minute, awarded after Nick Lima used a bit too much contact to keep San Jose striker Ousseni Bouda from attacking a cross in front of goal.
Josh Wolff was adamant after the match that it was the wrong call, but I’m not so sure. Judge for yourself (at 2:30 in the clip below), but had Lima not stuck his arm illegally across Bouda’s chest, I believe the SuperDraft pick from Burkina Faso gets his head on the ball. Penalty for me.
Bringing a point back to Austin. pic.twitter.com/Tn5Yky9HA7
— Austin FC (@AustinFC) April 3, 2022
“The game changes with a penalty kick, and it’s unfortunate,” Wolff said. “It’s not a penalty kick.”
Two minutes later, Austin FC made a mess of defending a corner kick as Cowell beat multiple hesitant Verde defenders to the second ball, dispatching it into Stuver’s goal to level the score.
Both goals were preceded by a trio of Austin FC substitutions (Felipe Martins for Urruti, Jared Stroud for Finlay and Rodney Redes for Diego Fagundez) which sapped the club’s edge in attack and also obviously did not contribute to defending the two-goal lead. However, the Oaks did manage to escape with a point on the road to remain among the Western Conference top three as the MLS season enters its second month.
It was also a vast improvement from the Verde’s last trip to PayPal park last October when a 4-0 Austin FC loss was followed by a particularly memorable postgame presser.
One footnote from Saturday’s match was the absence of designated player Cecilio Domínguez, who watched from his native Paraguay while completing documentation to get his U.S. green card. Austin FC has been proactive in helping its international players obtain residency so that they no longer occupy the limited spots for internationals on the roster. “We certainly could’ve used him [tonight],” Wolff said of Domínguez.
For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit the Austin Chronicle's Austin FC hub. Follow The Verde Report columnist Eric Goodman on Twitter: @goodman.
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Austin FC, Maxi Urruti, Josh Wolff, San Jose Earthquakes