St. Louis City SC head coach Yoann Damet hopes their progression into the U.S. Open Cup semifinal "is only the beginning" of their success as a group.

St. Louis defeated the Houston Dynamo on penalties after the tie finished 2-2 in 120 minutes of action.

The cup victory extended St. Louis' unbeaten run in all competitions to four games (W3 D1), ahead of their MLS clash against Austin FC.

Damet believes his St. Louis side deserve to celebrate their progression in the competition, as they now prepare for their final game before the World Cup break.

"It means a lot. We all have different stories, with the cup or with competitions like that in general," said Damet.

"At the start of the season, you always talk about the play-offs. Those [US Open Cup games] are play-offs. You're playing quarterfinals, round of 16, round of 32 games, those are play-off games.

"It means a lot to the group. This group is a group of competitors. They want to win, they want trophies, they want to write history for the club.

"I give a lot of credit to the guys for the work they have put in so far this season, and this is the reward for them.

"I'm really proud of the group, of the staff, and I hope it is only the beginning."

Austin are 13th in the Western Conference, one point and place above St. Louis, though their form has not been great.

A 2-1 defeat to Sporting Kansas City last time out extended their winless streak to three games, a run which also includes a 5-0 defeat to San Diego FC.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

St. Louis City SC – Marcel Hartel

Marcel Hartel provided an assist in the club's last home MLS game, his 19th career game with a goal contribution.

With his next goal contribution, he will become just the third St. Louis player to record 20 games with a goal contribution.

Austin FC – Owen Wolff

Owen Wolff appeared in the starting line-up for the first time this season against SKC, recording his first assist of the season.

Since the start of last season, Wolff has 16 goal contributions (seven goals, nine assists), tied with Myrto Uzuni for the most of any Austin FC player.

MATCH PREDICTION – ST. LOUIS CITY SC WIN

St. Louis have two wins in their last three regular-season home games after winning just three of their previous 17 league games at home and recording four total wins across all their home games in the 2025 regular season.

On the other hand, Austin's road winless streak reached 10 games last weekend.

Since joining MLS in 2021, Austin are one of only three clubs with three or more road winless streaks of at least 10 games, along with Atlanta United (four) and Toronto FC (three).

St. Louis and Austin combined to score 18 goals in their first three meetings, with both teams scoring multiple goals in each match. In the last four meetings, the two teams have scored eight total goals, with each team scoring multiple goals once.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

St. Louis City – 57.2%

Draw – 21.8%

Austin FC – 21%