Austin FC hanging its hat on defensive end as Copa Tejas trip to Dallas looms

AUSTIN (KXAN) — It's about to get busy for Austin FC with six matches in roughly three weeks, but as far as Verde and Black is concerned, the only match worth worrying about is the next one.

Austin travels up Interstate 35 to take on FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in a Copa Tejas derby, and despite FC Dallas' poor form at the moment, manager Josh Wolff isn't taking anything for granted.

"We know (FC Dallas manager) Nico Estevez is going to have them ready to go," Wolff said. Dallas is in 13th position with eight points in the 14-team Western Conference. "They're very fluid with what we're doing, and they may not have gotten the results they wanted, but they've been in all their games. We know they'll come in extremely motivated. It's going to be a challenging match as we always expect from Dallas."

A win over FC Dallas at Q2 Stadium on March 30 jumpstarted Austin's nice stretch, coming away with points in four out of their last five matches since then. While it's just a short trip to North Texas instead of an international adventure like last week was to Vancouver, it's still a road match in Major League Soccer and those are never easy.

With two Copa Tejas wins already, Austin can put even more pressure on rivals Dallas and Houston with another victory. Last week's defensive strategy of hunkering down and forcing Vancouver to take long-range shots, plus seven saves from goalkeeper Brad Stuver, kept the Whitecaps off the board but limited Austin's attacking ability. Wolff said championship teams are built on defense and he's determined to not let last season's struggles show up again. So far, Austin has allowed just three goals in five road matches so the strategy is working.

"Once you start seeing results and you get shutouts, you're keeping yourself in the game," Wolff said. "The best teams in the world defend, and they work extremely hard without the ball. It's a requirement of the game. We have details inside of that in our version of what we do, but you have to own that side."

There have been injuries this season but certainly not to the degree of last season for Austin. With Leo Väisänen returning with no restrictions, Wolff said everybody is available for Saturday. Having some continuity in defense, particularly central defense, is a luxury Austin didn't have most of last season. If Austin can keep that up, there's a path back to the postseason.

At its base level, Wolff wants Austin to be "a tough team to play against and break down." He said there was more of an emphasis on that in preseason training camp and throughout the season, and as the games start to pile up in May and early June, Austin is about to see how tough they actually are. They'll play six matches from Saturday to June 1, ending the span on the road against Real Salt Lake before getting a week off.

Staying healthy will be the key to navigating the crowded schedule, Wolff said.

"It's getting a little warmer with some more humidity, so that's coming into play," Wolff said. "But we have to stay healthy through this. These guys are fit and strong and we'll make changes when we need to."

One of the key offseason acquisitions to help defensive depth was Brandon Hines-Ike. He was one of the late signings by Austin sporting director Rodolfo Borrell, and since March 23 against Orlando City FC, he's started and played all 90 minutes in every game. Hines-Ike said being physical away from the ball is one of the things Austin has done very well, and that has led to opponents taking long-range and high-angle shots that are low percentage.

"Teams around the league are talking about how hard Austin is to break down," he said. "From the standpoint of not only being in a good, tight block, but also how physical we are on other players, it wears players down and takes them out of the game."

Austin hasn't allowed a goal in three consecutive matches and Hines-Ike said, in a very nonchalant and casual way, that he'd like to keep that going as long as possible. He said it's validating to see the results coming with the amount of work they've put in.

"There's a lot of times where you do all the work and you don't get the results you want, so it has been validating and boosting for our confidence," he said. "As a defender, it's fun because you take pride in not giving away goals and keeping clean sheets, so let's see how long we can keep this streak going."