When Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas take the field on Saturday in Frisco, it will be unlike any other time they have met in the brief history of the intrastate rivalry.
That's because a lot more is at stake. After eight meetings in the first two years of the Texas clubs, they meet Saturday at Pizza Hut Park in the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series.
"I think it's going to be unlike any other time we have played them because it's the playoffs," said Dynamo forward Brian Ching. "They are a good team, and we are definitely aware of how dangerous it's going to be to go up there and play on their home field."
Dynamo enter the playoffs with a bit of a chip on their shoulder after finishing a point shy of capturing the Western Conference regular season title. The frustration of not being able to capture first place in the West and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs will drive the Orange some throughout the playoffs.
"We wanted to win the West, so it kind of lit a fire under us and get us a little more fired up to prove ourselves," said Houston defender Ryan Cochrane. "We had a great year last year. We had a great regular season, but it's a new season now. We just have to take it one game at a time and hopefully, we can get through the first round and into the finals."
Houston has had their way with the Hoops in the two years of the rivalry, going 3-0-1 this season. In fact, the Orange have never lost to FC Dallas.
History means nothing to Dynamo, who know they have to head up I-45 prepared.
"It's going to be hard as we all know," said Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear. "The four games we played during the regular season are nothing. If we can get a mental edge with them, that's great, but we're not looking for anything but when the whistle blows we know what to do.
"We know that familiarity sometimes breed contempt, and familiarity sometimes breeds familiarity because you play them so many times you know about what their strengths are, and hopefully, we can try to expose their weaknesses. It's going to be difficult," Kinnear continued. "We have two games. It's not one game, and you are gone, so we really have to make sure our mind is set on trying to get through this."
Even though the playoffs don't officially start until Saturday for Dynamo, they feel like they have already played a playoff game, last week's scoreless draw against Chivas when a victory would have given them the West title. They hope that game will help them when they officially begin defense of their MLS Cup title on Saturday.
"It was a good playoff-like game for us in the sense that it was really intense and we put a lot into it, and I think that we kind of got that first game out of system, so hopefully, we will be a little relaxed and be able to concentrate a little harder and play a little bit better," Ching said. "Hopefully, we get a result."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
