Austin FC aim to capitalize on the momentum from a historic win when they host the Seattle Sounders on Sunday in a crucial late-season Western Conference match.
The Sounders took the first meeting of the season with Austin, winning 2-0 on June 28 in the Pacific Northwest.
The Verde (11-10-8, 41 points) head home after playing two matches on the road over five days. Austin fell to rival FC Dallas 2-0 in league play on Sept. 13 before rebounding with a 2-1 win at Minnesota United on Wednesday to clinch a berth in the U.S. Open Cup final.
CJ Fodrey scored in the 120th minute to lift the Verde to victory.
“I have a lot of respect for the opinions and the thoughts of the people, and what they think about the team,” Austin coach Nico Estevez said after Wednesday’s win in Minnesota. “I have my own belief. I believe a lot in these players, and I believe a lot in this team. I know they have a lot of potential.
“We are building this mentality, we want to be there, we want to be a team that everyone can talk about.”
Austin heads into the weekend in seventh place in the West with five matches to play, two points up on Colorado and four points and two positions behind Seattle in the race to the postseason. The Verde have earned points in seven of its last nine league games (4-2-3) since losing at Seattle.
The Sounders (12-8-9, 45 points) travel to the Texas capital after a 3-1 loss at Inter Miami on Tuesday. Obed Vargas found the net for Seattle in the setback, which was only the Sounders’ second loss in their 10 league matches (4-2-4) since they beat the Verde at the end of June.
Seattle is just two points behind fourth-place Los Angeles FC, with five games remaining in the race for a home playoff game in the first round.
“It’s good to have moments like this where you kind of have to reset your focus,” Sounders forward Jordan Morris said about Tuesday’s loss. “We have really important games coming up to try to secure top four and host those playoff games. We know how important that is.”
Seattle’s two top goal producers, Danny Musovski (14 goals, three assists) and Albert Rusnak (10 goals, eight assists), were mainly on the sideline in Tuesday’s match and should be raring and ready to go against Austin.