After extended Leagues Cup break, Austin FC primed for playoff run with 11 matches left

MLS play continues Saturday across the league as Leagues Cup wraps up, and now with just about the entire roster healthy and match-ready, Wolff said it's now or never with the last 11 games of the regular season.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin FC gets back to Major League Soccer action Saturday on the road against St. Louis City FC, and while losing early in Leagues Cup wasn't exactly what head coach Josh Wolff wanted, he acknowledged the team got a much-needed break.

MLS play continues Saturday across the league as Leagues Cup wraps up, and now with just about the entire roster healthy and match-ready, Wolff said it's now or never with the last 11 games of the regular season.

"Most of our players are going to be available going forward," Wolff said. "This was a chance to get a break, but we kept them in a fairly decent routine. By no means was a long break our objective, but we'll take advantage of it as it happens. We're getting back to a healthy space."

Austin FC hasn't played since being eliminated from Leagues Cup play by FC Juarez on July 29, so the club scrimmaged against New York to help stay sharp. Wolff said he gave players a couple of chunks of three off days to help recovery efforts, and every player is training with the exception of Zan Kolmanic.

"We've worked at both ends of the field," Wolff said. "What we saw against Juarez and Mazatlan is you're in a position to make plays, and then you're not. I think the defending in those moments is more individual, and on the other end it's being much more efficient in front of goal."

Austin FC enters the post-Leagues Cup break fifth in the Western Conference with 32 points and an even goal differential. However, only four points separate them from being outside the playoff field, so standing pat isn't something Wolff is interested in. He said the next four games are "critical" to set the team up for the final push in September and October.

"We've got four before another break, and they're four very critical games," Wolff said.

St. Louis City, an expansion team this year, leads the conference with 41 points and a conference-best plus-16 goal differential (43 goals scored to 27 allowed). They beat Austin FC in the first match of the season at Q2 Stadium 3-2 on Feb. 25.

Saturday will be the first match for Austin FC without fan-favorite and franchise assist leader Diego Fagundez on the roster. Shortly after Rodolfo Borrell took over as the team's sporting director, Fagundez was traded to the LA Galaxy for midfielder Memo Rodriguez and up to $900,000 in general allocation money. While some have suggested that move was more about the future than the present, Austin FC midfielder Ethan Finlay disagrees.

"We lost a really good player, but we added some good players this window," Finlay said, pointing out the club acquiring both Rodriguez and defender Matt Hedges. "Any notion that we've punted on this season is a misconception and not accurate. If anything, we addressed some defensive needs, and Memo has a similar profile to Diego, so those two pieces will help us as we try to make a deep run."

Finlay said the players understand the business side of things and they only care about lifting a trophy at the end of the season. He said as long as Austin FC holds on to a playoff spot through the last 11 matches, anything can happen in the postseason.

"We've talked about being in a position to make a run, and in MLS, every year you look at it, anyone can win in the playoffs," Finlay said. "If you get a hot team going, and that's what we hope to do in the next 11 games, anything can happen."