Austin FC embraced its role as underdogs and made things plenty uncomfortable for heavily-favored LAFC at BMO Stadium, before ultimately coming up on the short end of Game 1 of the best-of-three first-round playoff series, 2-1.
Despite winning both meetings against the Black and Gold in the regular season, Wednesday night marked the first time that Austin FC had to confront LAFC’s superstar attacking tandem of Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga. For the majority of the match, the Verde defense was successful at keeping the pair quiet, holding them to a combined three shots on target.
However, while keying in on the stars, Austin’s defense lost track of utility defender Ryan Hollingshead in the 19th minute. The veteran made a smart run into space behind ATX’s lines, easily dribbled by Ilie Sánchez in the penalty box, before playing a cross that Brendan Hines-Ike inadvertently toe-poked past Brad Stuver and into Austin’s own net.
The momentary lapse cost Austin FC a chance to hold LAFC scoreless for the third time this season, as well as a chance to – at minimum – send the match to penalty kicks even without finding a goal themselves. That bode poorly for Austin’s chances, considering the club ended the first half with zero shots on target and just a single shot attempt.
At halftime, though, head coach Nico Estévez urged his players to get more numbers into the attacking half and put pressure on LAFC’s well-organized defensive shape. His team obliged, and the Verde and Black were much more threatening with the ball in the second half.
In the 63rd minute, Austin’s attackers simply outworked LAFC to multiple loose balls in the 18-yard-box in a chaotic sequence, with the ball ultimately finding the feet of Owen Wolff in front of Hugo Lloris’ goal. Rather than attempt to thread the needle between two Los Angeles defenders and Lloris by shooting, Wolff calmly eschewed his good chance for a great one, laying the ball off to Jon Gallagher for a wide-open net and a goal that stunned the Black and Gold crowd.
“Owen had unbelievable composure that he has for, you know, such a young kid,” Gallagher said. “He put it on a plate for me to finish it nice and easy.”
Eventually, though, Son and Bouanga would have their say. In the 79th minute, Son found a pocket of space in midfield and made a threatening run directly toward Austin’s penalty box, before laying off a perfectly-weighted ball to Bouanga in stride. The Golden Boot runner-up fired a right-footed shot that – once again – deflected off a sliding Hines-Ike. The deflection took the pace out of the shot but also sent it looping just over the outstretched hand of Stuver, on a clear trajectory toward the bottom corner of the goal.
However, right before the shot crossed the line, 21-year-old substitute Nathan Ordaz instinctively stuck his foot out to tap the ball into the net. Immediately after doing so, he put his hands on his head in horror, dreading that he might have been offside and caused the goal to be disallowed. However, replay confirmed that Hines-Ike’s slide kept Ordaz onside, allowing what became the winning goal to stand.
Austin created one more solid look at goal in the 89th minute, a shot from the top of the box that fell to Besard Sabovic, but the substitute midfielder failed to strike the ball with any pace as it rolled harmlessly to Lloris.
The final whistle brought frustration for the Verde and Black, missing a golden opportunity to take a 1-0 lead back to Q2 Stadium for Sunday’s Game 2. But also, there was encouragement, knowing they made LAFC scramble just to scrape out a one-goal win at home.
“I think if you ask any LAFC player or staff or fans or whatever, they probably thought it was going to be an easier game for them. They probably thought, you know, we are LAFC. We are the big guys here. We have our Son and Bouanga. We’re going to smash these guys, no? And we showed personality. We showed we’re a good team,” Estévez said. “Having said that, what I told the guys is, that right now we know that it’s not going to be easy.”
The good news for Austin is that Game 2 is at their yard, Sunday night at Q2 Stadium. It’s do-or-die, as another LAFC victory would not only end the best-of-three series, but also Austin FC’s 2025 season. Should Austin find a win at home, though, then the teams will return to BMO Stadium a week from Saturday for a winner-take-all Game 3.
“Imagine we win the second game and we have to come back here. How are they going to feel that we come back here knowing that we’re a good team?” Estévez said. “This is the message. Let’s rest, let’s recover, let’s prepare, let’s win the second game and come back here and show them who we are.”
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.