For the third time in the span of a week, a soccer match involving Austin FC ended with a dramatic, 90th minute goal that flipped the result of the match on its head. Only this time, it was the Verde and Black on the right side of it.
A firecracker volley in the final minute of added time, from – of all people – embattled former club captain Alex Ring, salvaged a point on the road for Austin FC in the club’s first-ever meeting against the New England Revolution.
El Tree arrived at the House That Brady Built outside the playoff places in the MLS Western Conference, with a five-game losing streak clinging to its ankle like a ball and chain. Sebastián Driussi uncharacteristically squandered a terrific opportunity to put ATXFC ahead in the 10th minute with a wayward header, but watched as his countryman and fellow Designated Player, Emiliano Rigoni, bagged his fourth goal of the season in the 27th minute to snatch the 1-0 lead for Austin.
Said 1-0 lead lasted exactly 78 seconds.
In the latest example of Josh Wolff’s club making things impossibly hard on itself, the ATX defense coughed up an equalizer within six touches from New England’s ensuing kickoff, with forward Tomás Chancalay applying the final strike to level things at 1-1 going into the halftime break.
Then, less than two minutes into the second half, Chancalay popped up again to give New England a lead, out-jumping Adam Lundkvist to head in a dangerous cross from Nacho Gil following a corner kick.
Austin FC strung together multiple good looks at goal in the second half, but could not get any of them past Earl Edwards Jr. in the New England goal. That is, until Alex Ring – playing a full 90 minutes for the first time in three months – collected a loose ball at the top of the 18 yard box with just seconds to go in stoppage time. Ring drove the laces of his left boot through the slightly airborne ball and uncorked a shot that took everyone in Gillette Stadium by surprise, nestling into the bottom corner to give Austin the 2-2 draw.
And if you’re wondering if the late heroics were enough to inspire Ring to break his silence and speak to the media for the first time all season … negative Ghost Rider. Instead, his head coach spoke to what the goal and corresponding draw meant to the ATX locker room.
“It was deserved. That’s the best way to say it – it was deserved,” Wolff said. “It means more than just a point to our guys. … It’ll go a long way emotionally for our group.”
Still, the single point doesn’t do Austin a tremendous amount of good in the West playoff race, where the Verde and Black still occupy the 10th slot the first time out of the postseason. A full two weeks separates El Tree from its next match, at home against the Portland Timbers on Sept. 17.
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.
This article appears in September 1 • 2023.
