Preview: 'Caps try to end road blues at FC Dallas

FC DALLAS vs VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
PIZZA HUT PARK, Frisco, Texas
7:30 p.m. CT (FS-SW; RogersSN)
October 15, 2011 (WEEK 31; MLS Game 295)

FC Dallas conclude their regular season home campaign on Saturday evening when they play host to Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Pizza Hut Park. At midweek, FCD secured their place in the MLS Cup Playoffs, stopping a four-game losing skid with a 2-1 win against Chicago. Whitecaps FC come to Dallas off back-to-back wins for a first time in MLS, defeating D.C. United 2-1 on Wednesday, as they bid for a first road win this year in their final away game.

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REFEREE: Alex Prus. SAR (bench): Adam Garner; JAR (opposite): Claudio Badea; 4th: Mark Kadlecik
MLS Career: 190 games; FC/gm: 27.2; Y/gm: 3.1; R: 43; pens: 51

INJURY REPORT: FC DALLAS - OUT: DF Edson Edward (R knee ACL tear); MF David Ferreira (R ankle); MF Andrew Wiedeman (groin); GK Josh Lambo (jaw) ... VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC - OUT: FW Atiba Harris (R knee surgery); DF Jonathan Leathers (R hamstring strain); GK Brian Sylvestre (L knee surgery); MF Russell Teibert (R toe laceration); PROBABLE: MF John Thorrington (L groin strain)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DAL: Jackson Goncalves, Zach Loyd ... VAN: Jeb Brovsky, Jordan Harvey
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DAL: Marvin Chavez, Ugo Ihemelu, Jeremy Hall, Andrew Jacobson, George John ... VAN: Michael Boxall, Jay DeMerit, Eric Hassli, Gershon Koffie, Jonathan Leathers, Alain Rochat

HEAD-TO-HEAD

• ALL-TIME (1 meeting): FC Dallas 1 win, 2 goals ... Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 1 goal ... Ties 0
• The clubs first met on April 23 at Empire Field in Vancouver. A late strike from Eric Avila snapped a 1-1 tie to give FC Dallas an emotional victory.
• Coaches' records: Schellas Hyndman vs. VAN: P1 W1 L0 T0 ... Tom Soehn v DAL: P6 W2 L1 T3

LAST MEETING

• 4/23: VAN 1, DAL 2 (Rochat 25 - John 53; Avila 83)
• Whitecaps FC took the lead in the 25th minute. From a cleared free kick, Davide Chiumiento curled a cross back toward the far post, where Alain Rochat placed his header beyond 'keeper Kevin Hartman's reach.
• The visitors had a glorious opportunity to level terms two minutes later. FCD's Andrew Jacobson fired a shot that hit Rochat in the arm, and referee Juan Guzman awarded a penalty kick. David Ferreira stepped up to the spot, but shanked the kick wide left.
• FC Dallas were dealt a blow five minutes into the second half when Ferreira went down injured with what was later described as a broken leg and had to be removed. But the visitors equalized moments after their star went down. Marvin Chavez whipped in a corner that Jackson Goncalves flicked to the back post, where George John was waiting to nod home past Vancouver 'keeper Jay Nolly.
• FC Dallas found a late winner in the 83rd minute. Left back Jair Benitez whipped in a cross from to forward Milton Rodriguez, who failed to control the pass. The ball then dribbled to Avila, who drilled a low shot from just outside the area.
• VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-4-2): Jay Nolly - Jonathan Leathers, Michael Boxall, Alain Rochat, Blake Wagner - Wes Knight (Nizar Khalfan 61), Terry Dunfield, Jeb Brovsky (Kevin Harmse 77), Davide Chiumiento (Omar Salgado 84) - Camilo, Eric Hassli.
• FC DALLAS (4-1-3-1-1): Kevin Hartman - Jackson Goncalves, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez - Daniel Hernandez - Marvin Chavez (Eric Alexander 72), Andrew Jacobson, Brek Shea - David Ferreira (Eric Avila 55) - Fabian Castillo (Milton Rodriguez 46)

FC DALLAS

FC Dallas put an end to their four-game losing streak in fine fashion, going to the Chicago Fire and coming away with a 2-1 victory Wednesday evening at Toyota Park. FCD has 49 points from 32 games on the season, now in fourth place in the Western Conference.

LAST MATCH

• FC Dallas scored their first goal in more than a month in the 41st minute. A long throw-in from Ugo Ihemelu from the left touchline well inside his own half sailed over the head of Ricardo Villar. Jackson raced past a Fire defender to collect the ball and carry it into the area, sending a weakly-hit roller past Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson inside the far post.
• The home side doubled their lead eight minutes into the second half. A Villar corner was headed goalward by Zach Loyd, hitting Daniel Cruz in the goalmouth. But he hit an acrobatic, overhead volley from the rebound off his chest, sending it just inside the right post.
• The Fire saw their hopes further dim in the 79th minute when Pavel Pardo was sent off by referee Michael Kennedy with a straight red card for a harsh challenge on Villar.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made three changes to the team that fell to a 1-0 defeat to the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Daniel Cruz, Fabian Castillo and Ricardo Villar all came back into the side, for Daniel Hernandez, Brek Shea and Maicon Santos.
• FC DALLAS (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez - Marvin Chavez, Andrew Jacobson, Daniel Cruz (Bobby Warshaw 85), Fabian Castillo (Brek Shea 63) - Jackson, Ricardo Villar (Maicon Santos 90).

TEAM NEWS

• With the victory, last year's MLS Cup finalists secured their berth for this year's postseason, and also moved to within two points of Real Salt Lake for third place in the Western Conference and avoiding a wild-card contest.
• "If we can really step up on all the occasions that we need to step up and come up with some things that are beyond the expectations, then I think we will be fine," said goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. "The playoffs are where anything can happen. The final last year I think really worked against us. Hopefully we are able to get into the playoffs this year and with a little bit of luck on our side, we'll be able to win a championship in Los Angeles."
• The victory came after a month of September where FC Dallas lost three times in league play and suffered two losses and a draw in the CONCACAF Champions League, then suffered another league loss on the first day of October.
• "September was a rough month for us. I think fatigue caught up with us last month. But with international break, I think a lot of guys got their legs back, got some time off and mentally got their heads right," said defender Zach Loyd. "{Wednesday] we came in here with the energy we were bringing in a couple months ago and I think it showed in the result."
• Jackson's goal snapped the FCD goalless streak at 401 minutes, 31 minutes longer than the club record set in 2003 and a full half longer than the season-high set by Toronto FC from June 29-July 23.
• "I thought you could really tell we got a little bit of a rest. We're a very athletic team and I think you can tell by the amount of speed that we have up top and the athleticism in the back. When you're fatigued that's really going to affect you quite a bit," Hartman said. "(Against Chicago), after a bit of a rest, and an international weekend, I thought that you could tell we were able to really win balls in more advantageous parts of the field. And when we did sit, I think that we could tell we were attacking with pace and certainly at halftime I felt that it could have been more than it was."
• After playing 45 minutes for the USA in a friendly against Ecuador on Tuesday, Brek Shea was held out of the starting lineup, but brought on as a substitute for the final half-hour.
• After eight consecutive starts in league matches, Maicon Santos was kept on the substitutes' bench. Jackson started up, where he's started for many of the club's CONCACAF Champions League games.
• "I thought we created a lot of chances, I thought our attack looked really good tonight. Defensively we didn't give up too many much," said Loyd. "At the end there were a couple of mistakes led to that goal but overall defensively and offensively we looked pretty strong tonight."

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Vancouver Whitecaps FC put together back-to-back wins in league play for the first time in MLS, defeating D.C. United 2-1 on Wednesday evening at BC Place. Whitecaps FC have 28 points from 32 matches, sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference.

LAST MATCH

• Whitecaps FC took the lead after just 42 seconds with the second-earliest goal in the club's MLS history. Jordan Harvey sent in a curling cross from the left flank and Camilo raced onto the end of it, side-footing home from about seven yards out.
• Then, seconds after the halftime interval, Whitecaps FC doubled their lead. Left back Alain Rochat put in an inviting cross and Long Tan's powerful header deflected off center back Daniel Woolard and the underside of the bar, just over the line.
• United pulled themselves back into the game in the 57th minute, when Brandon McDonald headed home a free kick from substitute Santino Quaranta, rising well in a crowd of Whitecaps defenders to head into the bottom left corner straight out from goal.
• Whitecaps FC head coach Tom Soehn made no changes to the team that strolled to a 3-0 win against Real Salt Lake at BC Place.
• VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - Jeb Brovsky, Carlyle Mitchell (Michael Boxall 61), Jay DeMerit, Alain Rochat - Nizar Khalfan, Gershon Koffie, John Thorrington, Jordan Harvey - Long Tan (Eric Hassli 60), Camilo (Shea Salinas 73).

TEAM NEWS

• Whitecaps FC have put together back-to-back wins for the first time in the club's inaugural season in Major League Soccer, covering all competitions.
• "First one of the season, so it feels pretty good, but there is never a bad time for things and runs like this," said defender Jay DeMerit. "There are happy people in the stands and happy people in here and those are all positives as we move forward."
• Long Tan, who became Major League Soccer's first-ever Chinese-born player earlier this season, became its first-ever Chinese goalscorer with his goal to open the second half.
• "It's just great that he could reward himself. He has had such a great year," said goalkeeper Joe Cannon. "It's tough when you have such great guys in front of you like Eric and Davide, and Camilo. He has worked hard all year long, especially in the reserve games and it's just great to see."
• It was just the second time in league history that a team had conceded goals in the opening minute of each half, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The first time happened all the way back in the league's inaugural season, when United got goals from Steve Rammel (0:56) and Raul Diaz Arce (46) in a 3-1 win against New England, June 30, 1996.
• Whitecaps FC interim head coach Tom Soehn made no changes to his team after the win against Real Salt Lake - and indicated it's likely to be an unchanged lineup in Dallas.
• "3-0 at home, you can figure it out. You don't need to change too much," Soehn said. "You can never look back, you can only look forward at what you have and have to manage next Saturday."
• With the victory, Whitecaps FC also moved ahead of the New England Revolution out of last place in the MLS overall table by one point.
• "It's just as important if you look at benchmarks, and nobody wants to have that on our record, so we will carry this victory into Dallas and make sure that we try to keep these same performances going. We know if we won [Wednesday], we wouldn't be the last place team in the league and that definitely meant something."
• The trip to Dallas will be the final road game of the season for Whitecaps FC, as they try to win away from home for the first time this season. They are trying to avoid becoming the fourth club to go through a season without a road victory, joining the LA Galaxy in 2003 (0-9-6), Real Salt Lake in 2005 (0-14-2) and New York in 2009 (0-13-2). Vancouver is 0-11-5 outside of British Columbia.