Preview: MLS Cup 2010 antagonists square off in Dallas

FC DALLAS vs COLORADO RAPIDS
FC DALLAS STADIUM, Frisco, Texas
May 6, 2012 (WEEK 9, MLS Game #85)
7 p.m. ET (Galavision; FS-SW; Altitude)

Western Conference rivals looking for a win to jumpstart a move up the table, FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids meet Sunday evening in Frisco. FC Dallas are coming off back-to-back 1-1 draws against Western foes, last hauled into a late draw at the LA Galaxy. The Rapids are on the second game of a three-game road swing, starting it off in a 2-1 loss at New England at midweek.

REFEREE: Mark Geiger. SAR (bench): Steven Taylor; JAR (opposite): James Conlee; 4th: Armando Villarreal
MLS Career: 93 games; FC/gm: 26.4; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 18; pens: 31

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INJURY REPORT:

• FC DALLAS - OUT: MF David Ferreira (R foot surgery); MF Ricardo Villar (R foot strain); MF Andrew Wiedeman (sports hernia repair); MF Carlos Rodriguez (L elbow dislocation); MF Bobby Warshaw (R foot fracture); PROBABLE: GK Kevin Hartman (lower back spasms)
• COLORADO RAPIDS - OUT: DF Anthony Wallace (L Achilles tear); MF Pablo Mastroeni (headaches); MF Ross LaBauex (sports hernia); DF Marvell Wynne (R hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: MF Jamie Smith (R knee ACL tear); PROBABLE: FW Conor Casey (L Achilles tear)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

SUSPENDED:
WARNINGS:

SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none

SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DAL: Jair Benitez ... COL: Jeff Larentowicz

HEAD-TO-HEAD

ALL-TIME (53 meetings): FC Dallas 25 wins (2 shootout), 87 goals ... Rapids 18 wins (1 shootout), 64 goals ... Ties 10

AT DALLAS (27 meetings): FC Dallas 18 wins (2 shootout), 52 goals ... Rapids 5 wins (1 shootout), 26 goals ... Ties 4

RETURN MATCHES: 7/14: Colorado Rapids vs. FC Dallas, 7 p.m. MT; 8/11: FC Dallas vs. Colorado Rapids, 8 p.m. CT

LAST YEAR (MLS):

4/8: DAL 3, COL 0 (Ihemelu 26; Ferreira 40, 46)
10/1: COL 1, DAL 0 (Moor 26)

• Each team won at home in their two meetings last year, the first two after Colorado's extra-time triumph in MLS Cup 2010 in Toronto.
• The last win for Colorado at Dallas came in 2008, while the last win for Dallas at Colorado came in 2007. But both teams won on the road in a fractious Western Conference Semifinal Series in 2006.
• Coaches record: Schellas Hyndman vs. COL: P9 W2 L3 D4 ... Oscar Pareja vs. DAL: first game

FC DALLAS

FC Dallas played to a second draw in a row, another 1-1 result, this time with the LA Galaxy on Saturday evening at The Home Depot Center. . FCD is tied for fifth place in the Western Conference with 12 points from 9 matches.

HIGHLIGHTS: Galaxy play to a draw with FC Dallas
LAST MATCH

• The Galaxy had a glorious opportunity to take the lead four minutes into the second half when Jair Ben"tez hauled Landon Donovan down from behind inside the penalty area. Robbie Keane stepped up to take the penalty kick, but the Republic of Ireland captain sent his attempt wide.
• FC Dallas then took the lead on the hour after being awarded a spot kick of their own. Goalkeeper Bill Gaudette took down Blas PÈrez inside the box, and Brek Shea stepped up and buried his second penalty in as many matches as Gaudette barely moved.
• The Galaxy finally hit an equalizer in second-half stoppage time. Chad Barrett collected the ball tackled away from an FCD defender, laid it back to Pat Noonan at the edge of the area, and Noonan placed the ball into the left corner of the goal.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made three changes to the team that played to a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake at home. Jackson and Andrew Jacobson came into the midfield for Carlos Rodriguez and Bobby Warshaw, and Blas Perez returned from suspension for Scott Sealy.
• FC DALLAS (4-4-2): Chris Seitz - Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez - Jackson, Andrew Jacobson (Matt Hedges 82), Daniel Hernandez, Brek Shea (Hernan Pertuz 76) - Blas Perez, Fabian Castillo (Scott Sealy 90).

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• FC Dallas took their first point on the road at LA, though they nearly pulled off a road victory. They have back-to-back games at FC Dallas Stadium before going on the road for four of the next five.
• "Your whole mentality is to get points. For us we were talking about, we have yet to win on the road and we have yet to get a point on the road," said Hyndman. "We were two minutes away from getting that first win, but I'm proud that we come away with not only a point but, I think, one of our better performances to date."
• Brek Shea has scored in each of the last two games - both goals coming on penalty kicks. He has scored the last three goals for FC Dallas.
• "PKs kind of fall on my shoulders," Shea said. "I think with David [Ferreira] still out, he was our PK taker and I think we only had one PK last year, I'll take them if need be."
• Shea took the penalty despite noticeably limping. He was taken off after 76 minutes in favor of Hernan Pertuz.
• "I've been fighting turf toe since last Saturday," Shea said. "I guess I'm running around kind of awkward so it's spreading throughout my whole foot. We've had the traveling and three games in a week so it finally caught up to me." Said Hyndman: "Brek stepped up today and took it. He's in a little bit of pain. So I questioned if he should have taken it."
• Chris Seitz has started three consecutive games in goal in place of Kevin Hartman - the league's all-time career goalkeeping win leader - who has been sidelined with back spasms. FCD has allowed one goal in each of the three games.
• "I don't know how many guys they had forward at the end, but they definitely didn't make it easy," Seitz said. "They had great services coming into the box and they had big guys in there trying to win first and second balls. For a good 10-15 minutes we won the majority of the second balls, one squirted out and a guy was in the right place at the right time. It's unlucky; we put in a heck of an effort."
• After missing back-to-back matches, Andrew Jacobson was able to return to the first XI, starting and playing 82 minutes. But during the week, FC Dallas lost Bobby Warshaw when he suffered a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in a reserve match.
• "This is our ninth game and we've had nine different lineups," said Hyndman. "We've yet to get any consistency, because people are getting call-ups or injuries or suspensions from the disciplinary committee, so for us to come out (against LA) and fight as long as we did against a very good team ... I'm not worried about us."

COLORADO RAPIDS

The Colorado Rapids started their road swing with a loss, going down to a 2-1 defeat by the New England Revolution on Wednesday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Rapids are in a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with 12 points from 9 games.

HIGHLIGHTS: Revs notch big home win over Rapids
LAST MATCH

• The game's goals came in an 18-minute span before halftime. The Rapids captured the lead in the 21st minute when Jaime Castrillon shook off his marker at the near post and thumped home Mart"n Rivero's inviting corner.
• The Revs drew level just six minutes later through Saer Sene. Following a half-cleared corner kick, Clyde Simms hit a diagonal ball for Stephen McCarthy to flick on at the back stick. He nodded the ball back to the spot where Sene swept home with a left-footed side volley.
• Fernando Cardenas sent the Revs into the break with the lead with an alert finish in the 39th minute. Sene latched onto the ball and found Cardenas on the right side of the penalty area. The Colombian midfielder cut inside and floated his effort over the adrift Matt Pickens.
• Rapids head coach Oscar Pareja made two changes to the side that rolled to a 4-0 win against Chivas USA at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Hunter Freeman and Tyrone Marshall came into the back four for Kosuke Kimura and Marvell Wynne.
• COLORADO RAPIDS (4-4-2): Matt Pickens - Hunter Freeman (Kamani Hill 75), Drew Moor, Tyrone Marshall, Luis Zapata - Brian Mullan, Martin Rivero (Andre Akpan 84), Jeff Larentowicz, Jaime Castrillon - Omar Cummings, Tony Cascio.

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• The Rapids have lost four of their last five games - three of those on the road - and have allowed two goals in three of them as well.
• "Unfortunately, we failed again and had some mistakes, especially on set pieces. That is costing us a lot early in the season so far. That has been one of our big concerns and then today was no different," said Rapids head coach Oscar Pareja. "After that, we had the initiative and tried to tie the game, and I thought it was our players on the field who looked more for the game, but we couldn't get the equalizer and we get out of game that we should have gotten more out of."
• The Rapids uncorked a season-high 19 attempts at goal, putting seven on target.
• "We had options (in the second half), but we were not accurate in our finishing and that final pass. That last 30 minutes was not quite sharp and the way we wanted," said Pareja. "We took a lot of shots and shot well, but we just couldn't get it. Just one of those days and we came out of game were we were very effective and today we couldn't find the net."
• Jaime Castillon scored his second goal in MLS - his first came in the Rapids' second game, the 2-1 win at Philadelphia.
• Martin Rivero collected an assist for a second consecutive game, and now has three assists in five appearances since coming to Colorado.
• "I think the first half of it was not too bad. We got some chances but also gave up some chances. I think that hurt us in the long run," said Omar Cummings, who again paired with Tony Cascio in a two-man strike partnership. "We tried to get back in the game second half but I don't think we produced enough chances where we could get back into the game successfully in the second half."
• The Rapids were forced into one change in their back four the day before the match when center back Marvell Wynne suffered a hamstring strain in a training session at Gillette Stadium.
• Hunter Freeman made his first start for the Rapids since his first stint with the club ended in 2006, coming in for Kosuke Kimura at right back, who had started the first eight games.
• Conor Casey did not make the trip to New England, remaining behind to continue his comeback from injury.
• "He's still in preseason mode," Pareja said. "It was great to have Conor coming from the bench in the last game at home, but the plan this week is to keep him, first, off of the turf here in New England. Second, just getting him ready for the weekend in Dallas. And, from then on hopefully he can be with the team on a consistent basis."