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Austin FC gets first preseason taste of Q2 Stadium
Head coach Josh Wolff and the rest of the team are just about two weeks away from their Major League Soccer season opener and it's a much different feel this year than last year's first preseason.
AUSTIN, Texas - Head coach Josh Wolff and the rest of the Austin FC team are just about two weeks away from their Major League Soccer season opener. The team got its first taste of Q2 Stadium this year and the stadium looked ready for Austin FC's February 16 match against Mexican League champ Atlas FC as well as their February 26 MLS season-opening match against FC Cincinnati.
The team says it's a much different feel this year than last year's first preseason when players were together for the first time with new coaches and pandemic limitations. This year's group gets to begin on the same page.
Midfielder Alex Ring says, "You can't compare it to last year, I think we've taken a step forward this year, especially now and the intensity is really good, like you said, the depth is the difference to last year and I hope that will help us out this year."
"It all builds into what year two is and they are familiar with each other, we're familiar with the city. We've done a lot of teaching in our first year, so they're quite familiar with what our expectations are, we've introduced a few new things, but they come in a good place, physically they're in a good place and mentally they know what the season is going to look like. Many of the these players that were new last year or didn't see minutes the year before are further along," Wolff says.
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