First Touches is on the way to Texas this week, as the Loons travel south in April just as it starts to warm up in Minnesota.

Stats and Notes

• All three previous matchups between Minnesota and Austin have ended with one side goalless.
• Minnesota’s only previous trip to the Q2 Stadium came in October of 2021, where they took three points home with them in a 1-0 win late last season.
• Austin is still tied with LAFC for the league lead in goals scored with 13 and leads the league with 13 assists; however, they’ve scored just three in their last three games.
• In their opening five games, Austin has played four of the league’s five worst defenses by goals allowed (Miami, Cincinnati, Portland and San Jose).
• Austin’s 2-2 draw with San Jose on Saturday marked the first time this season that they’ve allowed multiple goals in a single game.
• Through five games, Minnesota has scored exactly one goal in each game.
• Austin has the third-highest team pass completion percentage in all of MLS (84.2%); however, they also have the fifth-highest number of passes completed in their own half in the league (1156). For comparison, Minnesota has just 758 passes completed in their own half, good for fourth-fewest in the league.
• Austin and Minnesota are two of the worst teams in the league in headed duels. Austin (45% win rate) and Minnesota (45.5% win rate) are third- and fourth-worst in MLS. The laws of mathematics suggest that at least one team’s number must go up after Sunday’s game.
• Out of 23 possibilities, Dayne St. Clair is still the only goalkeeper in MLS to save a penalty this season.
• Sebastian Driussi is one of several players tied for second in the league with four goals on the season.
• Luis Amarilla has attempted 16 shots so far this season; only three players have attempted more.
• Emanuel Reynoso is one of several players tied for second in the league with 17 fouls suffered across five games.

Minnesota Connections (read: the Ethan Finley section)

• Sunday will mark Ethan Finlay’s first game against Minnesota since his move to Austin this offseason. Finlay still has the second-most appearances in a Loons uniform in their time in MLS; he is one of only four players to play over 6,000 minutes for MNUFC; his 19 goals for the club remain fourth in club history; and he’s one of only nine players to record more than ten assists for the club.
• In addition, Finlay played his college soccer at Creighton with Brent Kallman before their shared time in Minnesota.
• Austin FC’s Hector Jimenez and Brad Stuver played with Will Trapp and Ethan Finlay on the Columbus Crew from 2014–17.
• Austin FC Head Coach Josh Wolff was an assistant coach for Columbus Crew from 2014–19, overlapping with current Minnesota players Wil Trapp and Niko Hansen.
• Wolff also spent the 2001 and 2002 seasons playing for the Chicago Fire alongside MNUFC Director of Player Personnel Amos Magee.
• Austin FC Assistant Coach Davy Arnaud was on Houston Dynamo’s technical staff — including a stint as interim head coach — during Niko Hansen’s tenure with the club from 2019–20.
• Adrian Heath began his coaching career in the U.S. with USL team Austin Aztex FC in 2008. The team became Orlando City SC in 2010 before eventually joining MLS in 2015.

MATCH INFO

Austin FC vs. Minnesota United FC
Q2 Stadium | Austin, Texas
04.10.22 | MLS Game No. 6
6:30 pm CT (FS1, FOX Deportes, SKOR North)