For FC Dallas, it all too achingly familiar. For the second consecutive season, the Colorado Rapids were celebrating a victory in a penalty kick shootout on FCD's home field at Pizza Hut Park, putting an end to the Hoops season in the Western Conference Semifinals.
A year ago, it was the Rapids that survived playing a man down to get the result they needed in the second leg. On Saturday evening, it was FCD that went down a man when left back Chris Gbandi was sent off after a hard foul on Colorado defender Matt Crawford. For Hoops head coach Colin Clarke, that set the stage for the entire night.
"We were down to 10 men," he said. "We got the red card in the [29th] minute and played nearly 100 minutes with a man down. Those are tough odds to overcome. I thought our team showed a tremendous amount of character tonight. We didn't deserve the result."
Disappointment was the theme inside the FCD locker room.
"Of course we're disappointed," said Hoops forward/midfielder Kenny Cooper. "We should be disappointed. We had a great year and had a lot of confidence coming into the playoffs, but it just didn't work out."
Even with 10 men, Carlos Ruiz had given the Hoops the lead on the night and a two-goal lead on aggregate with a goal in the 48th minute. But Nicolas Hernandez scored twice -- the first bouncing off his back and just over the goal line ahead of a clearance attempt -- to pull the Rapids level in the series and send the game into extra time.
A glancing header from Clarence Goodson again put FCD in front, but a wonder goal from Clint Mathis six minutes from the end of the extra session put the Rapids in front 3-2 for the game and left the teams equal in total goals.
"This is incredibly disappointing," said David Wagenfuhr. "That first goal (by Colorado) wasn't a goal. The linesman isn't in a position to call that one a goal. It's hard to say that we're unlucky when it happens two years in a row."
FCD right back Bobby Rhine thought along the same lines as Clarke, attributing the loss to his side being a man down for much of the evening.
"The red card just completely changed the game," he said. "For the rest of the game, we just had to sit back and defend with a man down. We weren't playing well before it happened. We always had to be defensive tonight."
Saturday's loss was especially hard to take, not just because it came to Colorado, who has now eliminated FCD from the playoffs on four different occasions, but because it marked a premature and disappointing end to a season that many thought would culminate with the Hoops playing in the MLS Cup Final in Frisco on Nov. 12.
But instead, FCD is left to think about what could have been and start thinking about next year. That is still a long way off, but one thing is for sure, the Hoops team that hits the field in 2007 will be markedly different from the 2006 version. Another disappointing end in the playoffs will surely mean a busy offseason ahead for FCD general manager Michael Hitchcock and the rest of his staff.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
