Austin FC will look to build momentum for their first-ever playoff appearance when they host the Colorado Rapids on Sunday afternoon in both teams’ final regular-season match.
There is nothing on the line, standings-wise, for either team in their Decision Day match.
Austin FC (16-10-7, 55 points) has already clinched the second seed in the Western Conference and awaits their opponent for the single-elimination postseason. Austin will host the seventh-place finisher in the West. A win by Austin would allow it to set the league mark for the best year-to-year improvement in points after it had 31 in its inaugural campaign.
Austin will play without coach Josh Wolff on the sidelines. Wolff was suspended for the game due to technical staff yellow card accumulation. He and the club were also fined an undisclosed amount of money for violating MLS’ mass confrontation policy after his team’s 2-0 loss at Vancouver last Saturday.
“We are coming home to Q2 for our final game, so there will be a lot of promotion in the stadium, there will be a lot of emotion on the field,” Wolff said. “We want to utilize all of that and go and put a very strong performance and get a win to kind of push our way into the playoffs.”
Austin’s Sebastian Driussi is two goals behind Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar in the race for the Golden Boot. He has scored goals in six of his past seven home matches.
Colorado (11-13-9, 42 points) has already been eliminated from the playoffs and will miss the postseason for the first time since 2019. The Rapids are 3-1-1 in their past five matches, including a 1-0 win at home over FC Dallas in their most recent outing.
The Rapids have struggled on the road this season, winning once in 16 games away from home. Colorado heads to the weekend tied with San Jose for the fewest away points (seven) in the league.
“It’s really important that guys come out and give a proper team effort and show the kind of desire that is really the hallmark of this team when it plays well,” Rapids coach Robin Fraser said. “All of the same things that we’d be seeing if we were playing for a playoff game.”
Colorado’s Diego Rubio leads the team with 15 goals and has already set a club record for the most goal contributions in a season with 22.
The sides have split the four matches in their all-time series with the road team posting three wins in those games.
–Field Level Media
