A draw that feels like a loss: Austin FC gives up two late goals to lose two critical points in playoff race

I was preparing to declare the eight-match winless streak a thing of the past. It's now nine and counting following Sunday's match.

An 8:55 p.m. kickoff? The latest ever of the season at Q2 Stadium? 

As the old Yiddish saying goes, “Man plans, and God laughs.” Lightning strikes hit the Q2 Stadium area minutes before kickoff was supposed to happen, and the match didn’t actually get underway until 11:30 p.m. CT — when we should have been in the post-match press conference dissecting the match. 

And it went well for Verde for so long.

Austin FC got two first-half goals — a 10th-minute banger from Alex Ring, and a 45’+6’ it-went-in-didn’t-it sliding goal from Ethan Finlay — plus an Emiliano Rigoni second-half sealer that looked like it would bring its first win in nine tries dating back to July 15.  

But man plans, and God laughs, and the LA Galaxy scored two late goals — in the 89th minute and fourth minute of second-half stoppage time — to bring the teams to a 3-3 draw that doesn’t really help either of them in their quest for the playoffs.