AUSTIN (KXAN) —Austin FC is back in action on Saturday when they host the Colorado Rapids. The club is hoping to tap into the same winning formula they had back on April 24 when they knocked off Colorado 3-1, which was their first win of the season.

Q2 Stadium will be at full capacity as Austin hosts Colorado Saturday at 8 p.m. on the CW Austin.

The club also made news on Friday, announcing the signing of McKinzie Gaines, a 23-year-old striker, to a contract through the 2022 season. Gaines will have two additional years on his contract as an option.

Gaines, originally from Austin, spent five seasons in Germany playing on a variety of teams. He says he’s fired up to be back in Central Texas.

“I’m happy to be back in the city where it all started and pleased to represent my hometown doing what I love the most,” Gaines said in a press release. “I’ve come back to Austin to work hard and elevate our playing style.”

Gaines is the second player Austin FC signed this week.

Thursday, Austin FC leadership introduced the signing of 25-year-old striker Sebastian Driussi to a multi-year, designated player contract.

They hope that these signings will give them even more depth, as they try to get their offense to the level in which Austin FC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna, and head coach Josh Wolff envisioned.

“There’s a lot of positives in what we’ve been doing and the negatives are that we haven’t been scoring enough goals,” Wolff said. “Where we create decent chances we lack that punch in front of net and we’ll continue to look for these players.”

Austin FC has had a little break due to their game against Vancouver, originally slated for July 28, being moved to Sept. 4. The gap gave the Oaks a little more time to prepare for Colorado.

“We’ve worked a little bit on many facets with the extra couple of days we’ve had,” Wolff explained. “I think that’s helped with the development of our game model but it also gives our guys some clarity as to what it could look like against Colorado.”

Colorado is currently in fourth place in the Western Conference standings with 24 points. Austin is in last place in the West with 13 points in the standings.

Colorado at Austin FC

When: Saturday at 8 p.m.

Where: Q2 Stadium (Austin, Texas)

English Language: 
Watch: THE CW AUSTIN
Listen: ALT 97.5 FM
Stream: Austin FC App and AustinFC.com

Spanish Language: 
Watch: Univision 62 Austin Mobile App
Listen: TUDN Radio Austin (104.3-HD2, KLQB)