Western Conference-leading FC Dallas hit the road for the second consecutive week as they travel to face Real Salt Lake, looking to win back-to-back games away from Pizza Hut Park for the first time this season.
The Hoops come off a 3-2 win last Saturday at Chicago that clinched the Brimstone Cup while RSL had a somewhat surprising 3-1 win at New England last Friday. Both teams played midweek games against top-flight teams from Mexico with FCD winning 2-1 over Tigres UANL and Salt Lake falling 3-1 to Monarcas Morelia.
Hoops head coach Colin Clarke knows facing RSL will be a good test for his squad. "It will be a good, tough game," he said. "It's a tough place to go and is one of the two places we play on turf during the year. They come off a good result last week and are feeling good about themselves."
On April 8, the sides met in Frisco. RSL scored first when Chris Klein connected on a free kick to make it 1-0 in the 36th minute. FCD striker Kenny Cooper scored the second goal of his career in the 43rd minute when he sent a blast by Salt Lake 'keeper Scott Garlick to level the match at 1-1.
The Hoops got what would prove to be the deciding goal in the 57th minute when midfielder Mark Wilson got his first career MLS tally after RSL defender Carey Talley, who played for FCD from 2004-05, attempted to clear a pass into the middle of the goal area by Carlos Ruiz. But Talley's attempt went off Wilson's foot and past Garlick.
"We had a tough game with them here (in April)," said FCD midfielder Simo Valakari. "They had the great result last week at New England and I think their confidence level is pretty high. I think they have good players who have something to prove against us."
FCD leads the all-time series 4-1. Their only loss to RSL came nearly a year ago when they fell 3-0 at Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 23, 2005. Salt Lake is one of two teams in the league that play on an artificial surface. The Hoops won their only previous game of the season on artificial turf on May 24 when they beat the New York Red Bulls 2-1 at Giants Stadium.
For Valakari, playing on artificial turf means making some adjustments. "I'm going to wear old school shoes that have lower studs on them," he said. "The ball moves a little bit differently (than on grass). But it's still soccer and the better team will win."
Hoops defender Bobby Rhine is expecting tough conditions on Saturday.
"In the first 20 minutes, we will probably have to get used to the field, the altitude and the heat they're having up there," Rhine said. "We know that we're going to need to move the ball around and try to move them around. I think chances can come from that for us offensively."
Clarke likes what leading scorer Jeff Cunningham and strike partner Jason Kreis, who starred in Dallas between 1996 and 2004, do for RSL offensively.
"Jason is the leading (career) goal scorer in the league for a reason," Clarke said. "He's done really well for a lot of years. He's smart, makes good runs, plays to his strengths and is a great finisher with his head and both feet, which makes him dangerous.
"Last year, he (Cunningham) was one of the leading scorers in the league and he's back to doing that again this year. They (Cunningham and Kreis) are a good combination up there and they work well together."
Cooper, named last week's MLS Player of the Week after he scored the game-winner against Chicago and also had an assist, agrees that Cunningham is a big part of the RSL offense.
"They have a lot of quality up front and a lot of capability to score some goals," he said. "Cunningham has been playing well and had a great goal for them last week."
Still missing from the FCD lineup are forwards Roberto Mina and Ruiz plus midfielders Ronnie O'Brien, David Wagenfuhr and Wilson. Mina will miss at least the next 8-10 weeks after having successful knee surgery last week while Ruiz should be out for about the next few weeks with a strained right hamstring.
O'Brien missed the Chicago game with a strained right hamstring and hasn't trained the entire week, and thus will not make the trip. Wagenfuhr, who suffered a concussion against the Fire and had to leave the game, was back at training on Monday but suffered another concussion against Tigres and will also be unavailable. Wilson continues to be plagued by a nagging left Achilles tendon injury.
Clarke's lineup will likely see Cooper and rookie Dominic Oduro up top, a midfield of Arturo Alvarez and Ramon Nunez on the wings with veterans Richard Mulrooney and Valakari in the middle. The back four of Rhine, Drew Moor, Greg Vanney and Chris Gbandi will likely remained unchanged and Dario Sala will start in goal.
With nine of the their final 15 games on the road, Clarke is looking for his team to produce similar results to what they did at Chicago and start a road winning streak.
"We talked about it before Chicago that we have eight of nine on the road including the Open Cup game," he said. "We got off to a good start with the win at Chicago and had a good result during the week against Tigres and want to keep that going. Winning is a habit."
Cooper agrees with his head coach. "I think our team has a lot of belief in ourselves and in each other," he said. "We've had some great results and have been real positive. The atmosphere in our locker room has been really positive."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
