It will be Verde and Black versus Black and Gold in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs as Western Conference No. 6 seed Austin FC will take on No. 3 seed LAFC in a best-of-three series.
Austin was already assured of the sixth spot prior to the league’s “Decision Day” regular season finale on Saturday, rendering a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes meaningless. LAFC, meanwhile, drew 2-2 with the Colorado Rapids, and got help from their already-eliminated rivals LA Galaxy, who defeated Minnesota United, the one club with a chance to overtake LAFC for the West’s third seed.
The first round matchup between Austin and LA marks the latest chapter in a rivalry that dates back to Austin’s first-ever match – a 2-0 defeat in Los Angeles in April 2021 – and includes a 3-0 LAFC victory in the 2022 Western Conference Final, the last time Austin FC competed in a playoff match.
In 13 all-time matches between the sides, LAFC – a perennial MLS Cup favorite – leads with seven wins to Austin’s four, along with two draws. Half of Austin’s wins, however, came in the pair of matches the clubs played out this season. Austin captured a surprise 1-0 win at BMO Stadium back in March, then followed it up with another 1-0 triumph at Q2 Stadium in the penultimate match of the season.
In that contest, though, LAFC was without its two superstar goal scorers, Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min, as both were on assignment with their respective national teams. (Austin also had players away on international duty, to be fair, but not of the same caliber.)
“We’re going to have to look back at the games when we played them and see what worked and what didn’t work,” said Austin attacker Owen Wolff, who scored the club’s lone goal against San Jose Saturday night and finished his breakout regular season with seven. “We’re going to do the best that we can to hurt them when we’re away and when we’re at home.”
Since Austin’s first and only playoff foray in 2022, the league revamped the format of its first round. Instead of a one-game, winner-take-all matchup, teams now contest a best-of-three series in which each team is guaranteed at least one home game. The better seed hosts the first matchup, followed by a Game 2 hosted by the lesser seed. If necessary, the teams then return to the top seed’s home ground for a deciding Game 3. There is no aggregate scoreline, and there are no draws. Each match ends with a winner and loser (straight to penalties if a match is tied after 90 minutes).
Game 1 is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29 at 9:30pm from BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Game 2 in Austin is set for Sunday, November 2 at 7:30pm. Game 3, if necessary, would occur on Saturday, November 8, with kickoff time TBD.
For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin Chronicle’s Austin FC hub. Follow The Verde Report columnist Eric Goodman on X: @goodman.