Austin FC center back Brendan Hines-Ike received a second yellow card in the 77th minute against the Seattle Sounders Credit: credit: Austin FC

The Seattle Sounders may not have donned their typical neon green kits Saturday night, but they still found a way to remain Austin FC’s kryptonite at Q2 Stadium.

The Verde and Black stumbled to a 1-0 defeat against the Sounders, worsening their record hosting the Seattle squad to zero wins, three losses, and one draw.

A distinct lack of finishing ability in front of goal, a well-taken chance from Sounders star Jordan Morris, and a sending-off for ATX center back Brendan Hines-Ike all worked against Austin FC in a frustrating loss that saw the club dip below the Western Conference playoff line.

Austin had the better of play in the first half, spending extended time in Seattle’s attacking third, but never seriously threatened Stefan Frei’s goal.

At halftime, Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer, perhaps sensing a vulnerable Austin FC, subbed on two attacking aces in Morris and designated player Albert Rusnak.

In the 63rd minute, Morris calmly finished off a beautiful bit of line-breaking team play from Seattle, carving through the Austin FC defense.

“The goal is, obviously, poor defending,” Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff said. “There’s a number of guys that could have dealt with that, and that’s the difficult part. It’s an individual dribbling and gets by three guys. We can deal with that much, much better.”

Then, in the 77th minute, Morris once again got loose behind the Austin FC back line, forcing Hines-Ike – already on a yellow card for a challenge earlier in the 2nd half – to clumsily foul Morris from behind. That earned the ATX center back a second yellow card and a sending-off, reducing the hosts to 10 men for the remainder of the match.

Austin, impressively, managed to create a flurry of late scoring chances in search of an equalizing goal, but were unable to direct any past Frei.

The loss dropped ATXFC into 10th place in the West, one spot outside the playoff places. That, clearly, isn’t sitting well with a large portion of the ATX fanbase, who apparently crowd-funded an airplane to fly above Q2 Stadium throughout the evening towing a banner that read “Austin DESERVES BETTER #WOLFOUT” (indeed misspelling the coach’s name). Chants of “Wolff out” also emanated from the supporters’ section on at least two occasions during the match.

“Our fans are awesome. They’re some of the best fans in the league,” Wolff said. “I think we’ve got to focus on doing our part. They certainly do their part. So we’ve got to keep pushing forward. It’s a challenging season, we knew that from the beginning.”

Next up for Austin FC is a midweek matchup against FC Dallas in Frisco, which could mark the debut for summer signings Osman Bukari and Mikkel Desler, potentially providing some much-needed reinforcements to the ATX cause.

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.

This article appears in July 12 • 2024.

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Eric Goodman has covered Austin FC for the Austin Chronicle since before the club first kicked a ball in 2021. His column, The Verde Report, continues the Chronicle's decades-long tradition of soccer-focused commentary, serving as a spiritual successor to Nick Barbaro's Soccer Watch column. Eric has also covered multiple Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups as a freelance sports journalist, and is a two-time Emmy-winning producer.