Austin FC erases a 0-3 deficit against San Diego in wild 3-3 draw

It was 0-0 at halftime at Q2 Stadium, and everything pointed toward a quiet night. Then San Diego blew the game open in the space of 14 minutes, and Austin FC answered with a comeback just as dizzying. The final score, 3-3, was cooked up almost entirely in the second half, one of those comebacks that ends in a draw but leaves everyone with their heart racing.

The match, part of the MLS season, stayed tight through the first 45 minutes even though Austin FC created the clearer chances: Brandon Vazquez gave a warning right from kickoff, and Zan Kolmanic, Facundo Torres and Brendan Hines-Ike all tried their luck without success. San Diego kept its cards close for the second half.

San Diego's explosion

Just four minutes into the second half, Anibal Godoy fired a low right-footed shot from the middle of the box to open the scoring in the 49th minute. Eight minutes later, in the 57th, Mikkel Desler made things even worse for his own side with an own goal that made it 0-2. And before Austin FC could respond, Marcus Ingvartsen, assisted by Anders Dreyer, made it 0-3 in the 63rd minute. In just 14 minutes, San Diego had gone from a stalemate to having the game all but decided.

Austin FC's answer

But Austin FC refused to fold. Brandon Vazquez pulled one back with a header in the 72nd minute off an Ervin Torres cross, and the home side started to believe. Christian Ramirez then stepped up twice to complete the improbable rally: first with a header in the 81st minute, set up by Jon Bell, then with a low shot inside the post in the 85th, this time fed by Jon Gallagher, to make it a final 3-3. Ramirez picked up a yellow card for excessive celebration, which says plenty about what that goal meant for the mood inside Q2 Stadium.

By the numbers

San Diego controlled possession and generated somewhat more danger through sheer volume of play, though the stats ended up fairly even when it came to clear chances on goal.

The xG generated in the match, an in-house estimate based on shot location, came out to 1.98 for Austin FC and 2.10 for San Diego, numbers that reflect a much more even contest than the 0-3 scoreline in the 63rd minute suggested.

Heading into the match, our projection gave Austin FC a 34% chance of winning, 28% for a draw and 38% for San Diego, with combined expected goals of 2.91. The final result, a 3-3 draw with six total goals, blew past that goal total, though the draw ended up being, after all, the outcome that already looked like a real possibility on paper.

What it means in the standings

In the Western Conference, San Diego holds 12th place with 32 points from 27 matches (8 wins, 8 draws, 11 losses), while Austin FC sits 13th with 31 points from 27 games (7 wins, 10 draws, 10 losses). Just one point separates the two clubs, and this draw doesn't change that picture much: both teams still need three-point results to climb the table in the games remaining this season.

What this match does leave behind is one of those comebacks remembered more for the reaction than the final result. San Diego built a three-goal lead in a little over a quarter of an hour and watched Austin FC, with Christian Ramirez as the double protagonist, tear it down in just 13 minutes of the second half.