AUSTIN – It will be a night that St. Louis soccer fans remember for a long time.
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St. Louis City SC won its first-ever game Saturday night at Q2 Stadium against Austin FC by a score of 3-2 in dramatic fashion.
City SC found the back of the net first in the 24th minute when center-back Tim Parker rose up and headed the ball in from a corner kick, but thanks to a first-half stoppage time equalizer from Sebastian Driussi, Austin got an injection of momentum right before halftime.
Austin FC came out and dominated possession in the early goings of the second half. With St. Louis chasing and growing tired, the Texas side broke the tie in the 72nd minute from Jon Gallagher’s goal.
It was a costly mistake in the backfield from Austin’s Kipp Keller in the 78th minute that drew City SC level again. Keller thought he was passing it back to goalkeeper Brad Stuver but instead passed it directly to Jared Stroud who was in the right place at the right time to score against his former club and tie the game back up.
Then came a moment of brilliance from St. Louis’ lone striker Joao Klauss de Mello in the 86th minute. Klauss ran onto an inch-perfect through ball from substitute Nicholas Gioacchini. Klauss cut back beating the only defender in his way before curling the ball into the side netting with the outside of his right boot.
City SC held on in the final minutes to capture what could be considered an upset win over an Austin FC team that made it to the Western Conference Finals a year ago.
Austin maintained the majority of possession at 60 percent, but it was City SC who outshot them 18-13 (9-2) shots on goal.
St. Louis City SC will make its much-anticipated home debut in one week’s time when they host Charlotte FC on Saturday, March 3 with a 7 p.m. kickoff at the brand new CITY PARK located in the heart of downtown STL.
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