Stunned at Starfire: Defiance, down to ten men, fall to Austin FC II in Semifinal
By Charles Hamaker
Tukwila, WA – Following a thrilling first round victory of the MLS Next Pro playoffs that saw them have to hold onto a lead against the Houston Dynamo 2, the second seeded Tacoma Defiance looked to keep their positive momentum and strong attack rolling when they hosted fourth seeded Austin FC II. The Defiance were stymied offensively all night long, failing to get a shot on target against Austin goalkeeper Damian Las until the 97th minute of the match. Tacoma started to truly fall apart when defender AB Cissoko was shown a red card in the 69th minute, with Austin scoring the lone goal of the match just 13 minutes later. It’s a disappointing ending to another strong season from the Defiance but given the younger crop of players that they have this time around, perhaps there’s some solace in the experience that they gained this year, and this will be a learning moment.
Pre-match sights and scenes of the Tacoma Defiance ahead of their MLS Next Pro Western Conference Semifinal loss to Austin FC II (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Far too little, and far too late on the attack
A Defiance attack that has been strong all season long, scoring the third most goals and tallying the second highest goal differential in the Western Conference, was heavily quieted down in tonight’s semifinal against Austin. The first half itself was largely silent, as the total shots in the match sat at just four when the halftime whistle blew. The Defiance did have the most shots in that first half with three compared to Austin’s one but failed to get any of them on target against stellar goalkeeper Damian Las. The second half saw Tacoma double their shots, but it paled in comparison to the number that Austin produced and still then only two of their shots were on target, with the first of those two not coming until the near end of stoppage time. While Dylan Teves did have a solid opportunity in the first half, the push at the end of the match saw the Defiance’s best chances, and outside of the one real save that Las had to make, none of them challenged him or got past the Austin defense as Tacoma struggled even more down a man. The Defiance committed less fouls, had less offsides, and took more corners, but none of those translated into real or strong opportunities on goal.
The Tacoma Defiance attack lacked enough punch to get past Austin FC II goalkeeper Damian Las (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Austin takes advantage of ten-man Defiance, miss empty net insurance goal
Defensively, Tacoma did their job, Austin couldn’t get hardly anything going in the first half despite controlling the ball and pace for that frame, and the second half was largely aided by the fact that the Defiance had to go down to ten men with the Cissoko red card. The card itself was a big odd as it appeared that there was some jawing between the Austin reserves and Cissoko, but the Defiance players didn’t protest much with the referee's decision. Defensively, Tacoma had played well all much and did so even when they had to go down a man outside of the one possession in which Austin scored. They had numbers into the Defiance box, keeping their passing going along a line of attackers until they found a wide-open Valentin Noel on the back post to get a shot past Tacoma goalkeeper Jacob Castro. In another example of their defending holding pat outside of a few different circumstances, with Castro brought up on a corner to try and get the equalizing goal, Austin essentially got a two on one breakaway as the Defiance goalkeeper sprinted back to his net to attempt to keep pace. Austin’s Emmanuel Johnson had a wide-open net and a teammate to pass to if he wanted to, but his shot went near post side along the netting in one of the funnier occurrences you could ever see in soccer. But, considering the score and lack of an equalizer, the Defiance weren’t able to take advantage of the blunder.
Reaction from Austin FC II as they score the lone goal of the match in the 82nd minute as well as missing the sure insurance goal in stoppage time (Photos by Liz Wolter)
What’s next?
Following this season ending loss in the semifinal round of the MLS Next Pro playoffs, head coach Wade Webber and the Defiance head into the offseason looking to build off now back-to-back years falling in the postseason. There are a few names from the current roster that will certainly look to take big leaps next season, including names such as Stu Hawkins, Braudilio Rodrigues, and Georgi Minoungou amongst others. While their reserve team failed to make it deep into the postseason, the Seattle Sounders are aiming to make a deep run and after that will face a critical offseason as many contracts are turning up and there is a cry for more youth infusion into the club. That may mean that we see a few faces from today’s lineup that will end up with first team contracts come the 2024 MLS season.