AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin FC started 2025 with promise, sitting near the top of the Western Conference table after a hot start, but now they’re near the playoff cut line almost three months into the season.
Verde and Black hope to get back on the right track Wednesday against Atlanta United, a team that’s won just twice and sits in 14th place in the 15-team Eastern Conference. With unseasonable, record-breaking heat expected for the Austin area this week, the match has been pushed to 8 p.m. from the original 7:30 p.m. start time.
Austin has lost three consecutive Major League Soccer matches since beating the LA Galaxy 1-0 on April 19. They are trending in the wrong direction, having almost led the Western Conference earlier this season, and now in a tie for seventh place (16 points) with three other teams. The standings say Austin is better than Atlanta, but the team has to go out in the sweltering Central Texas heat and prove it Wednesday.
Austin head coach Nico Estévez compared his squad to a band that’s starting to find its rhythm.
“Our players are connecting better,” he said. “Like I always say, when you start playing in a band, everyone is really good at their instruments, but to be a great band, you have to connect all the dots. We’re still in that process. We’re good in some areas, and we have to keep improving in others. We’re not happy right now with the results, but we’re finding ways to get our players in more dangerous positions than we were a couple of weeks ago.”
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In the simplest of terms, Austin has to score more often. They are tied with the Galaxy with a conference-worst eight goals, and the Galaxy haven’t won a match this season. On one hand, that’s impressive for Austin’s defense and goalkeeping, but at the same time, all of the money owner Anthony Precourt spent on goal scorers in the offseason hasn’t seen a return.
One of the players who cost a pretty penny is forward Brandon Vazquez. He’s scored three goals in 12 MLS matches this season, and he said training has “been intense” this week.
“Everybody is in the mentality that we need to keep working and push each other harder,” he said. “We’re not happy with our situation right now, but the intensity is there, so if we can keep that going, we’ll be in a good place.”
He echoed his coach and said the team is still building chemistry, and in soccer, chemistry is a big part of an effective attack. He scored twice in US Open Cup play against the USL’s El Paso Locomotive, and then again in MLS play in a 2-1 loss to FC Cincinnati, so perhaps the $10 million transfer fee Austin FC coughed up to get him from LigaMX’s CF Monterrey is starting to pay off.
“We had to be patient because things didn’t click right away,” he said. “I’ve been talking to teammates a lot, to all the players that I’m combining with and building a relationship not only on the field, but off the field as well.”
Atlanta is a team ripe for creating goals against. They’ve allowed 22 this season, tied for fourth-most in the entire league, and they are winless on the road at 0-4-1. Atlanta’s last win came on March 29, 4-3 over NYCFC, so they’ll come to Q2 Stadium desperate for a result, just like Austin.
“It’s going to be a battle. Both teams are hungry to come out and change the momentum of their situation,” Vazquez said. “With us being at home, we have to go out and put the rhythm of the game out there and grab it by the handles.”
