Gyasi Zardes finding his form as Austin FC continues to build momentum

Photo by Scott W. Coleman

Of all the traits that make Gyasi Zardes one of the all-time forwards in MLS history, one of the most important is his perseverance.

Things haven’t always come easy for the 31-year-old striker, especially over the first two and a half months of his career with Austin FC, but he never lost faith in his teammates or, more importantly, himself.

“No matter what’s going on, I’m always looking to keep pushing through, and I think that’s helped me throughout my career,” Zardes said.

Zardes broke through in a big way for the Verde & Black this week, scoring the game-winner in Wednesday’s 2-1 road win against the Seattle Sounders and following it up with a stoppage-time goal at Q2 Stadium on Saturday to lift Austin over Toronto FC 1-0.

“Scoring where our supporters are, it’s a surreal moment,” he said Saturday. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”

His two goals this week bring him to 99 regular-season MLS goals. His 104 goals between the regular season and playoffs rank 13th on the all-time MLS goalscoring list and third among active players.

Zardes was signed as a free agent before this season to be the go-to scorer for Austin FC, which is why he’s the highest-paid striker on the roster.

But, even if there were moments of promise and close calls during his first 12 appearances in Verde & Black, Zardes unquestionably left a lot to be desired.

“The ability to shake off missed opportunities and criticism, as a striker, that’s the space you live in,” Head coach Josh Wolff said after training on Friday. “You’ve got to be able to have short-term amnesia to some degree. He’s a goalscorer, that’s what he’s done in this league.”

Over his 11-year career, Zardes had had the uncanny ability to, as Ted Lasso would put it, ‘be a goldfish’ consistently.

“Once games are in front of us, that’s what we focus on,” Zardes said. “Once that game is finished, you forget about it and focus on the next game. That’s been my mindset over the years, and it still is to this day.”

Wednesday’s win came against a Seattle team that, at the time, was on top of the Western Conference.

Ethan Finlay scored his first goal of the season and assisted on the Zardes winner, making him the sixth active player to record at least 50 goals and 50 assists in the regular season.

Austin FC followed that up with one of its most dominant performances of the season at home against Toronto, finishing with more than 62% of possession, a 16-3 advantage in shots, 11-2 in corners and 20-1 in crosses, capped off with Zardes’ goal.

“I don’t think (it’s a big moment) just for me, it’s for the whole team,” Zardes said. “All of us are in this together. They battled from the beginning of the game, and this win is just what we needed to keep us going in the right direction.”

The six points in two games boost the Verde & Black from out of the playoffs to 9th place in the Western Conference, the final postseason spot.

Austin FC will look to continue its run in the U.S. Open Cup Wednesday at home against the Chicago Fire in the Round of 16 and continues MLS play Saturday on the road against the Houston Dynamo.

“The momentum is real,” Wolff said. “We can see it coming and we can feel it coming, and we keep that right in front of the players. It’s gratifying to score goals and win games.”

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Originally published May 20, 2023, in the Hill Country News