Austin FC mostly did what one would expect Saturday playing a meaningless match. 

Already locked into the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference for the MLS playoffs, the Verde & Black rested several key players, sat back in a conservative formation and by the middle of the second half had only three field players in the contest who will probably see significant minutes in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against LAFC. (Other results around the league dictated that the West Coast club will be Austin FC’s opponent to start the postseason.)

Oddly enough, for 73 minutes, it almost paid off in a win. 

Owen Wolff’s first-half goal gave Austin FC a lead until San Jose scored twice in a four-minute span late in the second half to record a 2-1 win at PayPal Park. 

The Earthquakes, who were fighting for their playoff lives, got the win they needed, but didn’t receive help in other matches and ended up missing out on the play-in game by a tiebreaker. (San Jose had one less win than Real Salt Lake.)

Here are some takeaways from the match as Austin FC (13-13-8, 47 points) will play at LAFC on a date yet to be announced by the league. 

Austin FC coach Nico Estévez sat forwards Myrto Uzuni and Diego Rubio and midfielders Osman Bukari and Ilie Sánchez, but surprisingly played more field starters than one would expect. 

Defenders Brendan Hines-Ike, Mikkel Desler and Guilherme Biro and midfielders Dani Pereira, Jon Gallagher and Wolff all began the match. However, Wolff and Desler only played the first half, Hines-Ike was subbed out in the 63rd minute and Pereira came off just before San Jose started its comeback. (Gallagher and Biro played the whole match.) Center back Oleksandr Svatok came on as a second-half sub. 

“We decided to manage the minutes for a lot of players to prepare everyone for what is coming and put themselves in a position to be in a good form and rhythm,” Estévez said. “The guys who didn’t play had slight injuries or were dealing with soreness from the season.” 

The Verde & Black used a counterattack to produce Wolff’s goal and otherwise had few attacking chances. They were outshot 26-4 and only had two shots on goal. 

But it doesn’t matter. The only point of this match for Austin FC was to exit it healthy and, for some players, stay sharp. It seemed to accomplish both of those objectives. 

Though he received a fortunate deflection on his goal, it was well-earned for taking a chance on a shot outside the box and for the quality he’s displayed this year. Wolff led the team in both goals (seven) and assists (eight) and was its best field player. The club will have a tough decision to make in who its player of the year is between Wolff and goalie Brad Stuver. 

Finishing sixth in the West and making the final of the U.S. Open Cup already made Austin FC’s season a success. Anything else going forward, especially after drawing LAFC and its potent attack in the first round, will be gravy. 

Austin FC will be a heavy underdog against the West Coast club. If it can stretch out the series to a third game and give itself a chance in a one-off, that should be considered an accomplishment.