Austin FC returns from break to battle San Jose Earthquakes
After the first international break of the MLS season, Austin FC is set to face conference-foe San Jose this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Verde and Black will travel to California for their first game since March 20.
"You don't get many opportunities to give guys a couple days off so we utilize that," said Austin FC Head Coach Josh Wolff. "And it's resourceful for them to get away, to reenergize and obviously we worked on some things in training prior to the break and since the break."
Austin FC got out to a blazing start to the season, winning their first two games by a combined score of 10-1. Those two victories were followed by some hard-fought games, a loss and draw against Portland and Seattle respectively.
The first-ever MLS match at Q2 Stadium in Austin was last year against the Earthquakes in which the game ended as a scoreless draw. The two squads met two more times last season, both matches won by San Jose. Javier “Chofis” López was the key for the Earthquakes last season, scoring three times against the Verde and Black.
"It's a road test," said Austin FC Defender Nick Lima. "We haven't won on the road. We haven't even got a point on the road...That starts with being hard to play against at home especially but on the road."
The Earthquakes enter the showdown winless on the season with a record of 0-3-1. San Jose has shown ability to find the back of the net, as evidenced by their 3-3 draw with Columbus.
Defense has been key so far for Austin, having just allowed three goals in four games. For their head coach, he knows how important that has been and will continue to be.
"We've certainly minimized the opponents opportunities," said Wolff. "We've done a good job thus far of being compact when we want to high press, when we need to be in our mid block and certainly defending in the red zone."
Offensively, Sebastián Driussi has led Austin FC so far in the young season with three goals. Cecilio Domínguez and Ethan Finlay have each tallied two goals. Driussi has added two assists, tied for second on the team only behind Diego Fagúndez who has three.
This will be the first of five matches in April for Austin FC. The game will be broadcast on KBVO with the pre-match show starting at 6:00 p.m.