If it wasn’t already, Austin FC’s season is certainly a success after Sunday. 

The Verde & Black defeated LAFC 1-0 at Q2 Stadium to secure the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference for the MLS playoffs and assure themselves of a least a .500 record in the regular season. 

Fittingly, Owen Wolff, who has been the club’s best player, scored on a header in the 83rd minute to give Austin FC a series sweep of the West Coast club. 

Here are some key takeaways from the match as Austin FC (13-12-8, 47 points) will end the regular season Saturday at San Jose in a match the Verde & Black have nothing at stake.

No matter what happens the rest of the way, 2025 will be looked at as a positive campaign for Austin FC. 

Coming off two straight years of missing the playoffs, the Verde & Black solidly made the postseason and reached the final of the U.S. Open Cup and did so with their top offseason signing — forward Brandon Vazquez — suffering a season-ending injury in early July. 

Sunday’s performance wasn’t pretty from either team — they combined for four shots on goal and eight shots total — but Austin FC deserves credit for gutting out a win, and it was important for the club to break a three-game losing. 

“It’s not easy to recover from a week like the one we had (losing three straight),” Austin FC coach Nico Estévez said. “When you win, you can be high, and when you’re not, you can be really low. We’ve done a good job of staying balanced all year. … And we have to be proud (of what we’ve accomplished).”

Though LAFC wasn’t close to being at full strength without star forwards Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min, who were on international duty, the Verde & Black still broke its six-game winning streak and thwarted any chance it had of winning the West. 

While Austin FC didn’t create any scoring chances outside of Wolff’s goal, it gave up very few defensively. Goalie Brad Stuver only had to make two notable saves and center back Brendan Hines-Ike and outside backs Guilherme Biro and Mikkel Desler had solid games. 

“It was a very tactical game,” Estévez said, perhaps giving the match more credit than it deserves. “I thought we did a good job of reducing their strengths.” 

Wolff was in the right place at the right time on his header, and there’s something to be said for that. He continues to produce in big moments and leads the team with 13 goal contributions (six goals, seven assists). 

“It’s his season this year,” said Zan Kolmanic, who had the service on the corner kick Wolff scored on. 

Estévez was non-committal on his approach to what is basically a scrimmage for the Verde & Black against the Earthquakes. 

“We first have to enjoy the win and being sixth,” he said. “We’ll think about that game later in the week.”

There’s no reason to take a full squad to the Bay Area — jokes were made among the media postgame that the club should just send Austin FC II to play the match — and the surface at PayPal Park has a less-than-stellar reputation. Austin FC will also play on the road in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series the following week. 

But Estévez has earned the right to make any call he sees fit. And 16 months after being fired by FC Dallas, he clearly has some personal satisfaction with what Austin FC has accomplished this season. 

“I’ve been in this league for four years and finished three years, and each of those three ended in the playoffs,” he said. “It feels really good (to be back in the postseason). There’s a lot of work that goes into it. And it’s important to think about all the hard work that this team has done.”

Players rated from 1-10 with 10 being the highest

Midfield: Jon Gallagher 5, Ilie Sanchez 5, Owen Wolff 7, Dani Pereira 5.5, Osman Bukari 5

Defense: Guilherme Biro 6, Brendan Hines-Ike 6, Mateja Djordjevic 4.5, Mikkel Desler 5.5

Subs: Zan Kolmanic 6, Jader Obrian 5.5, Robert Taylor 4.5, Nicolas Dubersarsky 5, Besard Sabovic 5