FRISCO, Texas — FC Dallas’ playoff equation heading into Saturday night’s home game against the Portland Timbers was straightforward.
Beat the Timbers, and Dallas would finish the regular season as the West’s third-seed, avoiding the midweek Knockout Round and entering the MLS Cup Playoffs fully rested. Lose or draw, and Dallas would finish fourth, forced to host the West’s fifth-seed in a winner-take-all match at Toyota Stadium on Wednesday night.
While Dallas lost 2-0 to Portland to fall short on their goal, they didn’t dwell on it after the match, immediately turning their attention towards Wednesday’s match against the Vancouver Whitecaps — who beat Colorado 1-0 late Saturday night to vault past the Timbers and clinch the fifth playoff spot.
“Obviously, a very frustrating night, but we’re moving on,” said head coach Oscar Pareja. “Tomorrow we will wake up in the morning, we will train and prepare the boys.”
Dallas met a desperate opponent in Portland, which entered the night with a real shot at qualifying for the playoffs. The Timbers needed to either win or draw at Dallas and then get some help from Colorado at Vancouver.
“I have to give credit to Portland, I thought they came very sharp,” Pareja said. “Tonight we found a good team who created a lot of problems for us. We couldn’t find answers at the beginning of the first half and the end of the second.”
The ‘Caps ended up taking care of business, defeating the Rapids 1-0 at BC Place to advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round at Toyota Stadium. Dallas was 1-1-1 against Vancouver this year, beating the Canadian side in the one matchup between the clubs in Texas.
Now Dallas has a short turn around to prepare for Wednesday’s win or go home match, and Pareja was quick to state that he maintained confidence in his club.
“This is a group that I am very proud of,” the Colombian said. “I thought the boys earned and deserved the possibility to play in the playoffs, despite the frustration tonight, despite the opportunity we let go, [and] on Wednesday we are playing in the playoff.”
One of the bright spots for FCD on Saturday was the return of Mauro Diaz and a 90 minute performance from Fabian Castillo, both of whom were coming back from injury. They’re expected to be available again for Wednesday’s match, Dallas’ first playoff contest since 2011.
“We are excited bringing some players back from the nursery,” Pareja said. “We are trying to be in form every game.”
“Whatever comes, we will be ready,” Pareja said.
