Brendan Hines-Ike and Ethan Finlay scored goals two minutes apart in second-half stoppage time as Austin FC roared from behind to down the visiting Colorado Rapids 3-2 on Saturday in the teams’ regular-season finale.
The Rapids (15-14-5, 50 points) move on to the postseason with the seventh seed in the Western Conference and will play at second-seeded Los Angeles FC in the best-of-three first round next week.
Austin (11-14-9, 42 points) will miss the playoffs for the third time in its four-year existence and will begin the process of finding a new coach and staff after firing Josh Wolff on Oct. 6.
The Verde had been the dominant team throughout the game but trailed after Omir Fernandez’s penalty kick goal in the 75th minute put Colorado in the lead. But that seemed to push Austin into a higher gear, with Finlay tying the match with a header in the 91st minute and Hines-Ike – who entered as a substitute in the 83rd minute – producing the winning tally (also on a header) two minutes later.
The Verde were on the offensive from the outset as Diego Rubio worked his way into the penalty area in the fifth minute before drawing a foul from Colorado’s Connor Ronan. That set the stage for a goal from the spot by Sebastian Driussi, who beat Rapids goalkeeper Adam Beaudry with a right-footed shot into the middle left of the net.
Austin pushed to expand its advantage as Julio Cascante fashioned a shot on target in the 17th minute that was stopped by Beaudry. The Rapids countered with their initial shot on goal by Calvin Harris a minute hence that was gobbled up by Austin keeper Brad Stuver.
The Rapids finally broke through when Rafael Navarro stole the ball from Driussi near midfield in the 42nd minute and roared down the middle of the pitch before using his right foot to beat Stuver into the bottom left corner. Lalas Abubakar was given an assist on the tying goal.
Fernandez then drew a foul in the box from the Verde’s Jon Gallagher and converted on his penalty kick chance in the 75th minute to put Colorado on top for the first time. But it would not last.
–Field Level Media
