Playoff soccer isn't often about the team who has the most shots or scoring chances, it's about the side that wants it the most. That point was driven home emphatically on Saturday night at Pizza Hut Park as FC Dallas came away with a 1-0 win against defending MLS Cup champions Houston Dynamo in the first leg of their MLS Western Conference Semifinal series.
On the stat sheet, FCD was outshot 15-9, including by a 10-3 margin in the second half. Houston also had nine corner kicks to the Hoops' zero, but in the end the difference was a 23rd-minute goal by Clarence Goodson that proved to be the deciding blow.
"I was pleased to get a 1-0 win," FCD head coach Steve Morrow said. "I told the boys all week that we had to come out fighting and compete very hard. I thought we did that tonight."
But the Hoops boss knows that the job is only half-finished.
"It's halftime and we've done the first bit and got a good home win, and now we need to go to Houston and fight and compete even harder than we did tonight," Morrow said.
Several of Morrow's players agreed that the result, no matter how ugly, was definitely a good thing.
"It was definitely a good win and a good start for the playoffs," said midfielder Arturo Alvarez. "Obviously it's not over and we have to play 90 more minutes in Houston. I thought we played well, with a lot of intensity and worked really hard today. When you do that, it pays off."
FC Dallas has the longest streak of failing to advance out of the first round -- six consecutive trips to the postseason -- but still sometimes that experience can be a positive.
"I think we did what we had talked about all week," right back Bobby Rhine said. "The coaching staff put together an experienced lineup. Most of the guys on the field know what playoff games are about and what it takes to win those games."
"It's not necessarily about the team that plays the best soccer, it's the team that can show the most fight, grit and spirit. The teams that have won in the last couple of years, that's what they've done. We did what we expected to do."
Goodson summed up FCD's performance pretty succinctly.
"It's playoff time," he said. "If you can't get up for the playoffs, then why are you playing this game? It's time to show everybody what you're all about and time to play with heart and passion. That's what we did tonight. We wanted it more and it was a huge result. It's as simple as that."
Coming into Saturday's game, FCD was just 0-3-1 against Dynamo this year in the regular season but Morrow made it a point to emphasize this week that those results were in the past and that the playoffs were all that mattered.
"I said all week, no matter what happened during the regular season, it's finished and gone and the next season starts for us here and now," Morrow said. "We had to concentrate on what we needed to do tonight and we did that. We showed a great desire and will to win the game."
The FCD boss was impressed with his team's mentality to start the playoffs. "I challenged the boys to show that edge and get that competitive spirit back going into the game," Morrow said. "You have to find the right mentality when it comes playoff time -- that's what this league is all about. We showed it tonight, but we have to show it even more next week."
Morrow was also complimentary of his backline, who helped deliver FCD's first playoff clean sheet in a winning result since a 3-0 win against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Oct. 8, 1997 in the opening round of that year's playoffs.
"I thought we defended well all night, the whole team," he said. "Any crosses that came into the box, we dealt with them. We fought hard for every ball and won a lot of second balls outside the box as well."
But before the Hoops can secure their first playoff series win since 1999, they need to face their in-state rivals one more time, on Friday evening at Robertson Stadium in Houston.
"It will be a very important and difficult game for us in Houston because we know that they play well at home," Alvarez said. "We have just got to keep what we're doing tonight with a little more intensity and I think we'll go far."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
