{"id":902898,"date":"2026-05-02T04:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/owen-wolff-nears-austin-fc-return-it-will-help-us-a-lot-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T04:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:18:12","slug":"owen-wolff-nears-austin-fc-return-it-will-help-us-a-lot-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/owen-wolff-nears-austin-fc-return-it-will-help-us-a-lot-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Owen Wolff nears Austin FC return: &#8220;It will help us a lot&#8221; | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<p>  <main role=\"main\" id=\"main-content\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-label=\"Page main content\"><\/p>\n<div data-bucket-name=\"main-content-before-middle-adv\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>The pieces are beginning to fall into place for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/austin-fc\/\">Austin FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Following a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-regular-season\/2026\/matches\/atxvshou-04-25-2026\/\">2-0 Copa Tejas victory<\/a> over rivals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/houston-dynamo-fc\/\">Houston Dynamo FC<\/a> last weekend, homegrown midfielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/owen-wolff\/\">Owen Wolff<\/a> could return from injury in Matchday 11&#8217;s Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire clash against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/st-louis-city-sc\/\">St. Louis CITY SC<\/a> at Q2 Stadium (5:30 pm ET | <a href=\"https:\/\/soc.cr\/4cNKGko\" target=\"_blank\">Apple TV<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe good thing about Owen is he is so talented and is so dynamic and versatile that he can play in any position,&#8221; praised Austin head coach Nico Est\u00e9vez. &#8220;He can play left winger, right winger, No. 10, he can play central midfielder.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think in any position, the players that we have around are going to make him better, and he\u2019s going to make the team better, because he\u2019s a player that can help us a lot with the connection, with the last pass, last action, but also connecting the buildup to the forward players through passing or through dribbling.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Austin FC winger Facundo Torres on the return of Brandon Vazquez and Owen Wolff and how important it will be to him and the team when they both return. <\/p>\n<p>Facu says he messes with them both everyday asking when they\u2019ll be available and says they\u2019re both very important for the\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/n7VBjXgmFO\">pic.twitter.com\/n7VBjXgmFO<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 WAATV Media (@WeAreAustinTV) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WeAreAustinTV\/status\/2049857188764504069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Avengers assemble<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>Last season&#8217;s top scorer and goal contributor for the club (7g\/8a), Wolff earned league-wide recognition with a fourth-place selection in the annual MLS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/2025-22-under-22-rankings\">22 Under 22 rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The breakout season subsequently earned the US youth international a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/austin-fc-sign-owen-wolff-to-contract-extension-x4157\">contract extension<\/a> and a U22 Initiative tag.<\/p>\n<p>Then, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austinfc.com\/news\/owen-wolff-undergoes-successful-surgery\">sports hernia surgery<\/a> in January caused Wolff to miss the beginning of this season. He&#8217;s watched on as Austin sit 13th in the Western Conference through 10 matches (10 points; 2W-4L-4D).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome frustration in some moments. But they are sportsmen, and they know exactly how these work. And maybe one day, you think things aren\u2019t going your way, but the next day you wake up and you go for it,&#8221; said Est\u00e9vez of Wolff&#8217;s recovery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think he had that mentality. He changed his mind real quick when a disappointment came, and he was focused on \u2018OK, make the next steps,\u2019 and I think now he\u2019s in a great position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Upon return, Wolff will link up with Designated Player forwards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/myrto-uzuni\/\">Myrto Uzuni<\/a> (3g\/3a) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/facundo-torres\/\">Facundo Torres<\/a> (1g\/5a) in the Austin attack. The only question is which position he&#8217;ll play.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps returning in a primetime Sunday Night Soccer matchup against a Western Conference foe will be the ideal moment for Wolff.<\/p>\n<p>His last SNS appearance came in the penultimate match of the 2025 season, in which his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/owen-wolff-s-late-heroics-secure-playoff-seeding-for-austin-fc\">game-winning goal<\/a> secured Austin&#8217;s sixth-place finish and a direct berth into their Round One Best-of-3 Series.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It well help us a lot, our identity, and I think he is going to be very natural in how he adapts in any of those positions, because he is a very smart player,&#8221; said Est\u00e9vez \u2026 &#8220;When he is available and can play 90 minutes, I think we\u2019ll find the best position for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Double trouble?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, Wolff may not be the only prominent Verde &#038; Black attacker to make his highly anticipated return from injury on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The club&#8217;s third DP, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/us-men-s-national-team\/\">USMNT<\/a> striker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/brandon-vazquez\/\">Brandon Vazquez<\/a>, has also been nearing match fitness after recovering from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/austin-fc-forward-brandon-vazquez-suffers-season-ending-injury\">torn ACL<\/a> suffered in July 2025.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think we\u2019re confident that he can be cleared, but if not, he\u2019s spent so much time away from the field that if he has to wait one more week or two, it will be fine,&#8221; said Est\u00e9vez.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We also have to have a plan with him, about minutes and when he has to come in and everything, that as soon as the doctor clears him, we will set up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With more key players potentially available, Austin have sights set on climbing the Western Conference table in their five matches before the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> break commences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow that we can have probably the full roster, for the first time in the year, in the next weeks,\u00a0I think everyone gets excited and everyone says, \u2018Now is the moment,\u2019\u201d said Est\u00e9vez.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/main><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/owen-wolff-nears-austin-fc-return-it-will-help-us-a-lot\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Lloyd Volkman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer The pieces are beginning to fall into place for Austin FC. Following a 2-0 Copa Tejas victory over rivals Houston Dynamo FC last weekend, homegrown midfielder Owen Wolff could return from injury in Matchday 11&#8217;s Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire clash against St. Louis CITY SC at Q2 Stadium (5:30 pm ET [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":902899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4166,2005,4447],"tags":[11179,21776],"class_list":{"0":"post-902898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nears","8":"category-soccer","9":"category-wolff","10":"tag-nears","11":"tag-wolff"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}