Austin FC fielded 10 players The real Salt Lake in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon, grabbing a late equalizer to overcome an early 2-0 deficit before winning the seventh in a shootout to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
Austin entered the game at the raucous Q2 stadium with high expectations for a long playoff run after finishing the regular season in second place in the West, but RSL dampened the celebratory atmosphere almost immediately. Striker Sergio Cordova put the visitors ahead in just the third minute, getting on the end of an Andrew Brody cross at the right post and heading a smart shot over the face of the goal and into the far corner to make it 1 -0.
Salt Lake’s dream start continued in the 15th. After a video review, Austin midfielder Jhojan Valencia was controversially whistled for handling a Salt Lake cross in the penalty area. Cordova stepped up and converted the penalty kick, with goalkeeper Brad Stuver guessing the wrong way as the Venezuelan sent his shot into the bottom left corner.
To their credit, Austin didn’t panic after falling into an early 2-0 hole. The second-year club actually started to take some control of the game around the 20th minute, then halved their deficit in the 31st minute when, in a game that mirrored RSL’s opener, midfielder Sebastian Driussi pounced on a Diego Fagundez cross. at the top of the six-yard box and headed inside the far post to make it 2-1.
Austin went up a man just minutes into the second half. Salt Lake forward Rubio Rubin, who received his first yellow card in the 17th, slid into Stuver at the top of the box as he tried to knock down a speculative long ball. Rubin appeared to try to back away from the challenge in a desperate attempt to avoid contact with the goalkeeper, but referee Victor Rivas took an unsympathetic view, showing the striker a second yellow and sending him off.
Austin dominated the game after Rubin was sent off, but they struggled to find a way past RSL’s packed defense. They came close to equalizing on several occasions – substitute Emiliano Rigoni inexplicably missed the target with some good close-range shots – but Salt Lake went into second-half stoppage time clinging to a 2-1 lead.
That changed in the fourth minute of added time. Midfielder Scott Caldwell was called for a handball in the box on a shot attempt from 15 yards out as Salt Lake cleared an Austin layup. The replays didn’t seem all that conclusive, but the show didn’t go to video review. Driussi decisively converted his penalty to send the game into extra time.
Austin continued to pile on the pressure in the extra 30 minutes but couldn’t find a winner, with Driuss hitting the post on one occasion and finding the net on another that ended up being ruled out for offside. RSL even had a late chance of their own, but Brody couldn’t capitalize on his one-on-one opportunity with an onrushing Stuver on target after an impressive counter-attack.
The shooting was all in Austin. Stuver nearly saved RSL’s initial drive, then stoned Brody and Brian Ojeda on Salt Lake’s second and third shots. Driussi, Fagundez and Rigoni, meanwhile, converted each of Austin’s first three penalties. RSL substitute Tate Schmitt had to make his effort to force Austin into a fourth, but he skied his shot well over the bar to seal the score.
Austin will host the winner of Monday’s game between sixth-seeded Minnesota and third-seeded Dallas in the West semifinals next Sunday.
(Photo: Scott Wachter/USA Today)
