BURN TO HOST GALAXY SATURDAY AT COTTON BOWL
After playing their last two matches on the road, the Burn returns to the Cotton Bowl to face the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, September 18 at 7:30 p.m. Dallas (9-11-5) is currently in fifth in the West with 32 points while the Galaxy (10-7-8) is tied for second in West with 38 points. The first 3,500 fans at Saturday's match will receive a Dallas Burn cap courtesy of Verizon Wireless.
BURN/GALAXY SERIES NOTES
The Burn and the Galaxy have squared off two times this year, with Los Angeles taking both matches, 3-1 in Dallas on May 8 and 4-1 at the Home Depot Center on May 29...the Galaxy leads the all-time series vs. Dallas 16-9-7...Los Angeles currently has a six-match unbeaten streak vs. Dallas, going 4-0-2 in that stretch...the Burn has just one victory in the last 12 meetings, posting a 1-5-6 record over that span...six of the last 12 matches in the series have resulted in draws...Dallas is 6-5-5 in home matches vs. Los Angeles...Jason Kreis leads all Burn scorers vs. the Galaxy with ten goals and seven assists for 27 points in 28 career matches.
THE PLAYOFF PICTURE
With just five matches remaining in the 2004 regular season, the Burn is currently in fifth place in the West, two points shy of the fourth and final playoff spot. The Burn trails San Jose by two points, Los Angeles and Kansas City by six points and Colorado by seven points, with a game in hand on the Rapids. Of their five remaining matches, three are against teams that are ahead of them in the standings. Of the four teams ahead of the Burn, three of them (Kansas City, Los Angeles and San Jose) have all five remaining matches against teams from the West. Following is a breakdown of the remaining matches for the teams that are currently ahead of the Burn in the standings:
Colorado - @ New England, @ Kansas City, vs. San Jose, vs. Columbus
Kansas City - vs. San Jose, vs. Colorado, @ Los Angeles, @ San Jose, vs. Los Angeles
Los Angeles - @ Dallas, @ San Jose, vs. Kansas City, vs. Dallas, @ Kansas City
San Jose - @ Kansas City, vs. Los Angeles, @ Colorado, vs. Kansas City, @ Dallas
PAREJA OUT SATURDAY, THREE OTHERS ON VERGE OF SUSPENSION
After receiving a red card in the 46th minute of last weekend's match at DC, midfielder Oscar Pareja, who is second on the team in assists with five, will serve a one-match suspension when the Burn faces Los Angeles this Saturday. Additionally, three other players are on the brink of one-game suspensions. Defender Chris Gbandi is just one caution point shy of reaching the additional 11-point plateau, defender Clarence Goodson is one caution point shy of accumulating 11 points in three matches and midfielder Simo Valakari is one caution point shy of the additional 11-point plateau.
SATURDAY IS BUCK-A-BRAT NIGHT AT BURN MATCH
The Burn has once again teamed up with Johnsonville Sausage to host the Second Annual Buck-A-Brat night this Saturday, September 18 at 7:30 p.m. All game long throughout the Cotton Bowl concession areas, plump, full-size Johnsonville Bratwursts will be sold for just $1 each.
INJURY REPORT
None to report
