Austin FC<\/a> a brief lead early in the first half before Seattle\u2019s Paul Rothrock tallied the equalizer 15 minutes later.\u00a0<\/p>\nHere are some key takeaways from the match as Austin FC (4-7-5, 17 points) plays Saturday at Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Being in better shape gave Austin FC a needed win<\/p>\n
Having put itself in a hole in the first half of the season, Wednesday\u2019s match was more important for Austin FC than just a normal contest in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Being 14th in the Western Conference, the Verde and Black\u2019s margin for error the rest of the season is thin if they have playoff hopes, and dropping points at home in their first game in two months would have been a bad look.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And though the game was a slog for 50 minutes after Seattle\u2019s goal, Austin FC dominated after the second-half hydration break.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our fitness level showed through,\u201d Austin FC midfielder Jon Gallagher said. \u201cThe first 75 minutes were very, very cagey. Neither team was doing anything \u2026 and it was kind of a sparring match. At the hydration break, we were talking about how tired (Seattle) looked and how we could pounce on that. With how hard we\u2019ve worked the last five weeks, the preseason was another level of intensity and has been a shock to the body. But you also feel it because the last 15 minutes, we reap the rewards.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a match that was played in brutal heat with the temperature close to 100 degrees at kickoff and still above 90 at the final whistle \u2014 Gallagher called it \u201cprobably one of the toughest games physically I\u2019ve ever played in\u201d \u2014 Seattle wilted down the stretch while Austin FC was energized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Midfielders Owen Wolff and Przemyslaw Placheta provided a jolt as second-half subs, particularly after the hydration break, and Ram\u00edrez and Torres only added to that when they came on late.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great result for us,\u201d Austin FC coach Davy Arnaud said. \u201cAfter the water break, the guys started to find some of the things we talked about and we\u2019ve been working on. This was the first test to see what we\u2019re about in a real game. \u2026 The grit and ability of our guys to stay in the game was really good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Man of the match: Ervin Torres<\/p>\n
Torres, who is a product of the club\u2019s academy and won\u2019t turn 19 until November, was simply brilliant despite being on the field for only 14 minutes, including stoppage time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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After a poor Seattle turnover, he produced a nifty through ball in the box that Uzuni put away with a quick shot. A few minutes later, he beat a defender and provided Ram\u00edrez a perfect pass that the veteran forward finished with a quick turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first assist was exciting and gave me more energy to play in the heat,\u201d Torres said. \u201cGetting two assists \u2014 as a player, it gives you confidence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arnaud noted Torres earned playing time with his performances in training the last five weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe still obviously has a lot of room to grow and keep getting better, but he has that ability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Gallagher said that Torres, who probably earned more minutes going forward, made the most of his chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPro sports is about taking opportunities, and when they come, you have to grab them,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd he did that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davy Arnaud as a coach<\/p>\n
Arnaud made some interesting moves, mainly starting Besard Sabovic over Wolff and not playing Jayden Nelson, which would have raised questions in a loss. He also used a different formation than predecessor Nico Est\u00e9vez with a three-man backline and played Gallagher and Joseph Rosales as inverted wingbacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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But the coach gets the glory in a 3-1 win, and as fellow media pointed out, he perfectly timed his substitutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gallagher offered some insight into how Arnaud operates as a coach, noting he doesn\u2019t put up with any nonsense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe demands a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you don\u2019t want to be on the bus, that\u2019s tough. So he wants guys that want to be a part of this and want to help the program move forward. He\u2019s been strict with that, and guys have to button up and do their jobs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – JULY 22: Ilie S\u00e1nchez #6 and Ervin Torres #38 of Austin FC celebrate the go-ahead goal during the second half against Seattle Sounders FC at Q2 Stadium on July 22, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Noah Goldberg\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Noah Goldberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, TEXAS – JULY 22: Oleksandr Svatok #5 of Austin FC controls the ball in the 1st half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,135,134,133,136,90925],"class_list":["post-383611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-fc","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-mls","tag-seattle-sounders-fc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}