The final 10 minutes of Austin FC’s Sunday evening win over St. Louis City were about as celebratory as you’re likely to experience at an MLS match in early May. Not only was the weather immaculate inside Q2 Stadium, not only did Myrto Uzuni score a game-sealing goal to finish off the club’s second 2-0 victory in as many weeks, but the Verde faithful also got to salute the returns of two of the club’s most important players, each making his 2026 season debut.
The first standing ovation went to Owen Wolff, Austin’s 21-year-old playmaking star, out since preseason following surgery to repair a sports hernia and a longer-than-expected recovery. Then, Q2 erupted as if a third goal had been scored when Brandon Vázquez took the pitch for the first time since tearing his ACL in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal in San Jose 10 months ago.
The moments were precious on a human level – Vázquez called it “an amazing feeling” to be welcomed so warmly by the fans. They were also, of course, hugely significant to the potential trajectory of Austin FC’s 2026 season.
Due to the game state and the fact that Austin was already well on the way to victory over St. Louis without Wolff’s or Vázquez’s involvement, neither player logged enough minutes to gauge where their sharpness and fitness levels might be at. You’d imagine both will require multiple weeks to feel comfortable on the pitch again, and the club will surely be cautious with each player’s workload.
But both are finally available. And the impact of that alone could be seismic.
“They’ve been working their tails off, getting healthy, getting ready to play, and you can see what it means to the city,” ATX goalkeeper Brad Stuver said of his returning teammates. “You can see what it means to the locker room to have these guys back in.”
Vázquez, after the match, talked briefly about his rehab process. “I think the most difficult part was trying to stay positive and just patient,” he said, before shifting his focus to the road ahead. “Being back out here with the team, helping the team, and seeing the team win today was a great feeling.”
In the short term, more than anything, the reintegration of Wolff and Vázquez deepens the club’s bench substantially, giving head coach Nico Estévez many more options to pick from both to start and to finish games.
Long term, you can see the vision. Since pivoting to a two-striker system in March, Estévez has found an attacking identity to build from. It’s helped, among other things, Uzuni play his best soccer since joining the club last year from a record transfer fee. Vázquez, when fully healthy, will naturally slot in beside Uzuni as the more conventional No. 9, a role that Christian Ramirez has filled admirably in the interim (Ramirez, then, becomes a valuable substitute).
Where Wolff fits in is less obvious, and that’s by design.
“The good thing about Owen is he is so talented and is so dynamic and versatile that he can play in any position,” Estévez said. “He can play left winger, right winger, No. 10, he can play central midfielder… If we feel like putting him in another position will make the team better, we’ll put him in that position.”
When fully healthy (if that day ever comes, as winger Jayden Nelson is the latest fitness concern for the club), Austin FC has assembled quite the intriguing attacking unit, containing both talent and depth. In this condensed MLS season in a World Cup year, the latter could be just as vital as the former.
We’ll see who sees action – and how much of it – when ATXFC next plays at Minnesota United Sunday evening.
For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin Chronicle’s Austin FC hub. Sign up for The Verde Report newsletter to get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox, and follow The Verde Report columnist Eric Goodman on X: @goodman.
This article appears in May 8 • 2026.
