FRISCO, Texas - After 120 minutes of play and six rounds of penalty kicks, consider FC Dallas relieved at defeating the USL First Division Atlanta Silverbacks in a third-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match at Pizza Hut Park Monday.
The sides finished regulation and two extra time sessions tied at 1-1, and FCD prevailed 4-3 on penalty kicks to advance to the Open Cup quarterfinals.
After a scoreless first half, FCD got on the board first in the 74th minute when Carlos "Fish" Ruiz scored on a 20-yard blast for his first goal since April 12.
Daniel Antoniuk scored just four minutes later off a free kick, putting one past FCD goalkeeper Dario Sala to make it 1-1. Four minutes after that, the Silverbacks forward was sent off after kicking Hoops defender Drew Moor in the face.
FCD outshot Atlanta 27-7, had 11 shots on goal to the Silverbacks' three, and took 19 corners to their opponent's one. In the end, the only number that mattered was four - the number of penalty kicks they converted. Arturo Alvarez netting the winner on the Hoops' sixth attempt.
"We were definitely the better team over the stretch of the game and deserved to win. The result is just," said FCD's Bobby Rhine. "Relief is probably an accurate word."
Hoops head coach Steve Morrow would certainly agree.
"I'm very drained, that's my overall thought," he said. "I want to give a lot of credit to Atlanta. They really put up a big, big fight tonight. We had enough chances certainly to win that game and maybe another one on top of that.
"A lot of credit goes to them. It's the U.S. Open Cup and shockers can happen. That's what it's all about. In the end, we got the result we wanted."
After Atlanta went a man down, the Silverbacks bunkered in for the remaining 38 minutes of regulation and extra time and seemed content to try to steal a win on penalty kicks.
"I told the boys that was how it was going to be," Morrow said. "Even when they went a man down, they still had nine guys on the ball. At times, I felt that we could have moved the ball a little better."
The FCD boss would have liked to see his team finish more chances Monday, too.
"Offensively, we could have been better at times and our finishing in and around the box could have been better," he said. "It's a difficult game. It's difficult to break a team down when they sit behind the ball, but we have to find ways to do it."
With his start tonight at right midfield, Rhine has now played in 17 Open Cup games for the Hoops, tying him with Jason Kreis for the most in team history. For Rhine, Monday's win ranks as one of his most memorable Open Cup games in Dallas.
"It's definitely up there," he said. "The first one that comes to mind was the D.C. game two years ago where we get a late equalizer from Carlos (Ruiz) and then won on penalty kicks."
Rhine added: "This is a game tonight that's a lot like most Open Cup games are. It was hard-fought and not necessarily great soccer but extremely competitive and very intense. The best team doesn't always win, but tonight's win was very deserved on our part."
Morrow was clearly ecstatic with Ruiz finding the back of the net for the first time since April. The goal didn't come easy for Ruiz, as Atlanta goalkeeper Ryan McIntosh made a number of great saves at the Guatemalan international's expense throughout the evening.
"I'm relieved for him," Morrow said. "It was a good finish as well. I told him at halftime not to get frustrated, keep going and be better with his movement.
"He needed to come out of the middle a little bit more and create some space for himself and that's how the goal came up. He pulled off his markers the back, was able to get turned and made that goal for himself. I was delighted for him that he scored."
When Alvarez stepped up to the spot as FCD's sixth shooter in penalty kicks, he had no doubt what the end result would be.
"I was looking forward to it and all I had to do was put it in," he said. "I saw the goalkeeper leaning to his left, so I just put it on his right and it went in. I'm happy for myself and for the team."
Alvarez considered the goal a just reward considering that McIntosh had robbed him on several previous attempts.
"He had a good game," he said. "He had made some great saves for his team. It felt good to put in the last PK and make us go through the tournament.
"Sometimes, it doesn't have to be pretty soccer or take 90 minutes. The good thing is that as a team, we stayed together, never went down on each other and played for the whole 120 minutes and in PKs."
FCD will face the winner of Tuesday night's match between Houston and the Charleston Battery, to be played at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston. Should Dynamo win, FCD will host the reigning MLS Cup champs on August 7. If the Battery win, then the Hoops will travel to Charleston for a match on the same date.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
