Austin FC in pole position for first trophy with Dallas, Houston rivalry matches this week

It’s arguably the most opportunistic week — one that features two derbies — in Austin FC’s short history.

Starting with Tuesday night's home match against the Houston Dynamo and ending with Saturday’s match at FC Dallas, El Tree has the chance to claim its first trophy by winning the Copa Tejas.

As part of the regular MLS schedule, the Copa Tejas is a competition between the three Texas teams determined by the six games against each other, and this season’s edition will conclude with Saturday’s match in Dallas.

Austin FC controls its own destiny to win the cup, as it currently has compiled four points, including a 2-1 win over Houston in April, with a game in hand on the other two clubs, while FC Dallas leads the table with five points and Houston has been eliminated with only one point.

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The Dynamo gave El Tree a bit of a boost Saturday when it scored a goal in the final moments of its home match against FC Dallas to force a 2-2 tie, preventing the defending champions from taking a three-point lead in the table.

Saturday’s game will decide the champion, but with a win Tuesday, El Tree — along with sweeping the season series with Houston — can put itself in a position where it only needs a draw against FC Dallas on the road to claim the trophy.

In his usual — and understandable — focus, Austin FC coach Josh Wolff said he is only worried about Houston right now as the team would not prefer to drop any points at home.

“We want to keep growing,” he said. “The win over Atlanta (Saturday) validates the work we’ve put in all year, but we have to keep searching for those kind of performances both at home and away. We have to maintain a hunger and humility and keep moving forward.”

Playoff berth likely?

With the second-best record in the MLS at the moment at 11-4-4 and 37 points, Austin FC is undoubtedly the story of the season as a club in only its second year of existence that finished 12th in the Western Conference a year ago.

Things can change quickly in the standings in soccer, but a playoff berth seems nearly certain at the moment.

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Still, players said they don’t look at the table and — like their coach — only look at the next opponent.

“The reality is that we haven’t done anything,” midfielder Felipe Martins said. “The points we’ve accumulated don’t mean we’ll finish in the same place we are now. If we focus on the big picture, then we lose focus on the next game. We can’t think about the Supporters’ Shield because there’s still 15 games to play and in the MLS anything can happen.”

More matches, fewer practices: Happy players

Austin FC is getting used to playing on short rest.

El Tree is in the midst of a stretch where it plays five times in 17 days and hasn’t had more than four days off between matches since before its June 25 home contest with FC Dallas.

Some players like this type of schedule because it means less practice.

“I like to play games — I don’t like to train at all to be fair, so the more games the better for me,” center back Ruben Gabrielsen said. “We prepare the same on short rest as we do any other time. To be a football player is really easy, you just do what you’re told. We’re kind of like robots.”

Dani Pereira, Kipp Keller back from suspensions

Austin FC's roster should be in pretty good shape heading into Tuesday's match.

Midfielder Dani Pereira and center back Kipp Keller return after sitting out Saturday’s game due to card suspensions.

Wolff said midfielder Owen Wolff suffered a slight injury in the Atlanta match, but otherwise there will be plenty of substitution options as El Tree plays at Q2 stadium for the first time in nearly three weeks.

Tuesday's match

Houston Dynamo at Austin FC, Q2 Stadium, 8 p.m., UniMás, 97.5

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin FC aims for Copa Tejas trophy with rivalry games this week