Anticipation turned into euphoria on Thursday night for Austin FC, with Los Verdes treating Q2 Stadium’s full-capacity crowd to a soccer celebration for the ages.
The expansion club blasted four goals past the Portland Timbers in a 4-1 win, creating firsts that everyone in attendance won’t soon forget. The first-year club from Texas’ capital city earned their first win at their spectacular soccer-specific stadium, Jon Gallagher scored the first home goal in club history and the burgeoning fanbase went home smiling after enduring two scoreless draws that succeeded an opening eight-game road swing while the final touches were applied to their new home.
A dozen games into Austin FC’s first MLS chapter, it was beer showers and flashing green lights that gleamed across FS1's national broadcast. In the stadium, noise levels exceeded 110 decibels as songs and cries of joy careened off Q2 Stadium’s roof. And it was abundantly clear that a passionate soccer culture is forming at the league’s 27th club.
“It’s a momentous occasion, and we’re very fortunate to be doing what we do,” Wolff said. “Moments like this to be a first-year team, to get your first goal, your first win, you know it will be memorable. Certainly will be very memorable for me and I hope all these players and fans remember it as memorable of an experience.”
One day removed from signing Senegal youth international forward Moussa Djitte to an MLS U22 Initiative roster spot from Ligue 2 side Grenoble, it was perhaps fitting that Austin FC enjoyed a scoring outburst. Even more, Austin FC have the cap/roster flexibility to add another Designated Player who would supplement midfielder Tomas Pochettino and Cecilio Dominguez, creating the potential for a surge up the Western Conference table.
Before Djitte is available for gameday selection, Gallagher lifted the pressure off Austin FC’s shoulders in the 28th minute. Diego Fagundez added another before halftime, and then Alex Ring and Hector Jimenez scored in quick succession starting in the 77th minute to stave off Portland's comeback hopes.
Phrased more simply, the home scoreless drought of nearly 210 minutes ended. And then goals just kept coming.
“You’ve seen at Q2 [Stadium] where we’ve just been dominating games, peppering the goals, especially the first 15 minutes or something,” Gallagher said. “It’s frustrating but at the same time one of them has got to go in, one of them has got to bounce off someone's head or thigh or something. We’ve just got to get lucky, and when that happens the floodgates open. I woke up having a good feeling this morning and felt that we were going to score tonight. We had to.”
Austin FC’s triumph over Portland was their latest year-one memory, certainly ahead of when a 3-1 road win over the Colorado Rapids in Week 2 marked their first goal (from Fagundez) and first three points in MLS. And with a home-heavy schedule for the final two-thirds of their inaugural season, the supporters are left wanting more.
Opening scoreless draws against San Jose and Columbus are in the rearview, and another party could await on July 7 when LAFC come to town for a midweek clash (9 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+).
“They brought us all here, they built this unbelievable stadium,” head coach Josh Wolff said. “Delivered us to this fantastic community and we’re fortunate enough to get goals and cap for a win. But the fans, everything’s been right. Tonight, we got the goal, to break that seal and to cap it off for our first win in Q2 [Stadium].”
