A fantastic long-range strike from Maxi Urruti and a Sebastián Driussi penalty kick spurred Austin FC to a 2-2 away draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening at PayPal Park.
Urruti’s first goal in Verde & Black came in the 11th minute, and it was one to remember. The striker took an excellent touch to bring down a long ball from Julio Cascante and unleashed a volley from 25 yards out that looped over Earthquakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski.
Two key saves from Brad Stuver helped ATXFC weather a wave of San Jose attacks, and Austin nearly doubled its lead on two occasions just before halftime, with Ethan Finlay and Alex Ring both going close.
The second goal did arrive shortly after the break, when Daniel Pereira won a penalty for being brought down by San Jose’s Jackson Yueill. Sebastián Driussi confidently dispatched the spot kick for his fourth goal of the campaign.
The Earthquakes then pulled themselves back into the contest with a pair of goals two minutes apart. San Jose got a penalty of its own which Jeremy Ebobisse put away, and Cade Cowell scored from a scramble in the six-yard area to tie the match in the 72nd minute.
Despite late chances for both sides, neither found the net again, and the teams split the points on the night.
THREE THINGS
- FROM DISTANCE: Urruti’s wonder strike was Austin FC’s first goal from outside the box of the 2022 MLS season.
- SEBA THE SCORER: Driussi’s goal was his ninth for ATXFC, tying him with Cecilio Domínguez as the Club’s all-time leaders.
- MINUTES MILESTONE: Diego Fagundez surpassed 20,000 career MLS minutes (regular season plus playoffs) with 68 minutes played on the night.
UP NEXT
Austin FC will play its fourth home match and sixth match overall of the 2022 Major League Soccer regular season against Minnesota United FC on Sunday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will feature a national TV broadcast in English language on FS1, and in Spanish language on FOX Deportes.
On radio, the match will be broadcast on KASE-FM (ALT 97.5) in English, as well as on TUDN Radio Austin (104.3-HD2, KLQB) in Spanish.
