The Atlanta Silverbacks came from a goal behind twice, once to force extra time and again to force penalties, to sneak past the Austin Aztex on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw.

After facing several good scoring opportunities from the Silverbacks, it was Austin who held the lead at halftime. With only stoppage time remaining in the half, Jamie Watson poked home a loose ball from 12 yards out for a 1-0 advantage.

At the 79th minute, Atlanta was handed a chance to level the game, but David Hayes penalty kick was saved by goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo. Just three minutes later, Atlanta did find the equalizer, when Mac Kandji beat Gallardo for the tying score.

In in 99th minute, Atlanta were reduced to ten men when Chris Mahaffey was shown a straight red card for what was deemed a reckless challenge while sliding for the ball in the penalty area. A short while later, Austin snatched the lead again through Willy Guadarrama, who scored on his first touch of the game since entering as a sub. With just seven minutes remaining, Hayes found himself at the penalty spot again, after being pulled down in the box. Hayes was dead on once more, leveling the score at 2-2.

In the penalty shootout, all of Atlantya’s kick takers converted, while Austin’s second shooter, Beto Papandrea missed his chance. Hayes stepped up to the spot yet again, and beat Gallardo to advance the Silverback to the second round