Brad Stuver

Austin FC, the second seed in the tournament, will face Los Angeles FC in the West final next Sunday against top-seeded Los Angeles FC. Los Angeles FC, the Supporters' Shield winner with the best record in MLS's regular season, defeated Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday to advance to the conference championship match. It was the sixth match between the Lone Star State and Dallas, and it was the first time Austin defeated Dallas in the series's two-year history. The stakes were much higher for this match than those that preceded it, and Austin was more up to the challenge than the first five, and it was in just its second season in MLS.

In the decisive penalty-kick shootout, host Austin FC defeated short-handed Real Salt Lake 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw Sunday afternoon in their first-round Western Conference playoff match, Sebastian Driussi scored two goals and Brad Stuver stopped two shots in the decisive penalty-kick shootout. Driussi, Diego Fagundez, and Emiliano Rigoni converted their penalty in the shootout for Austin FC, and Stuver stopped shots by Andrew Brody and Braian Ojeda before Tate Schmitt capped the match with a shot over the crossbar. Driussi's second goal of the match, on a penalty kick four minutes into second-half stoppage time, brought the game to a halt for two extra 15 minutes overtime periods. After being ordered to play the final 44 minutes of regulation a man down after Rubio Rubin was suspended for his second yellow card in the 52nd minute, Real Salt Lake had to play his second yellow card.