in a contest featuring the top two Western Conference clubs. Austin defeated LAFC 4-1 in this game, which featured intense physical play.

This match got off to a fiery start. Both teams tried to assert their control beginning at the seventh-minute mark. Gareth Bale made the decision to push Jon Gallagher out of the way when he was about to start a throw-in. Ryan Hollingshead fell to the ground after what appeared to be a push or a shove by Sebastián Driussi as he attempted to take the ball from him following the throw-in. Anyhow, this led to an altercation between players from the two sides, and the referee had to step in. Diego Fagundez's successful free kick gave Austin FC the lead in the 32nd minute. In the 38th minute, when a ball was being pursued by several players, tensions spiked quickly. Maximiliano Urruti felt compelled to push Jess Murillo back after the latter shoved him hard beyond the line of play, but Murillo simply fell and appeared to be injured. Another altercation ensued, but this time the referee cautioned Maximiliano Urruti, Diego Fagndez, of Austin, and Maxime Crépeau, of LAFC.

Maximiliano Urruti's goal at the start of the second half made it 2-0 in favor of Austin. Nick Lima's cross was the source of his headed goal. Urruti wasn't finished yet. He was given a through pass by Diego Fagndez in the 51st minute as they both sprinted toward the goal area. In an effort to slow Austin's momentum, LAFC was frantically looking for solutions at this time. With yet another score, Austin kept up its momentum. Sebastián Driussi's goal from the left side of the box into the bottom right corner of the goal gave Austin a dominating 4-0 lead this time. Cristian Arango scored for LAFC in the 61st minute to give them a goal. Cristian was able to position himself after passing the ball to Kellyn Acosta, who then dribbled around and had a few more players touch it before Cristian kicked it in for the lone LAFC goal.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Dee Rosa]
Written by Wes Shepherd