Early goals from Philadelphia’s Cavan Sullivan and host Austin FC’s Brendan Hines-Ike before the conditions took over accounted for all the scoring as the teams settled for a 1-1 draw on Saturday in just their second-ever meeting.
The start of the match was delayed an hour because of extreme heat in Austin but it was still 98 degrees at kickoff. Those conditions eventually took their toll on the teams, who struggled to complete plays and were far from sharp, especially in the offensive ends.
Austin and Philadelphia finished the game with identical records (5-10-6, 21 points). The Verde earned points for the second straight match, adding the draw to a midweek win at Seattle, while the Union extended its unbeaten stretch to six matches (4-0-2), all since its return from the World Cup break.
Fittingly, both teams started off on fire. Austin had two early scoring chances, both in the 14th minute. Myrto Uzuni had a low-percentage attempt that Union goalkeeper Andre Blake stopped and Jon Gallagher immediately clanged a shot off the right post.
Philadelphia struck first, as Sullivan made short work of a headed pass across the box from Nathan Harriel to score in the 18th minute.
The scoring play started with a short corner kick from Milan Iloski, who eventually got the ball back and sent an arching ball to the far post for Harriel. Instead of shooting, Harriel found Sullivan on the other side of the goalmouth; Sullivan easily headed the ball into the open goal far out of the reach of Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver.
The Verde quickly responded and their goal came off a corner kick as well. Joseph Rosales curled the ball from the corner to the back post in the 21st minute where Hines-Ike outjumped two Philadelphia defenders to head the ball behind Blake and into the net.
Stuver saved a weak shot from Quinn Sullivan in the 61st and 75th minutes to keep the game on level terms. In between, Blake also had a stop on Facundo Torres’s attempt from a severe angle in the 70th minute.
Blake finished the game with a save four minutes into stoppage time.
–Field Level Media
