FC Dallas has put themselves in a position to win a second trophy in club history after their 2-1 victory against the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division on Tuesday night in Seattle. The Hoops will now play host to the New England Revolution in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final -- their second trip to the title game in three seasons -- on Oct. 3 at Pizza Hut Park.
"We're very pleased," said FCD head coach Steve Morrow. "It was a big motivation for us before the game -- wanting to host an Open Cup final at our stadium. I think we showed a lot of character and a lot of fight. Our quality came through in the end."
After going scoreless through the 90 minutes of regulation time, Carlos Ruiz broke the deadlock just a minute into extra time with a goal. FCD added a second tally in the 119th minute when Abe Thompson converted a penalty kick after Dax McCarty was taken down. Seattle scored in stoppage time for the final scoreline.
"I thought Carlos looked dangerous throughout the game," Morrow said. "He had a few chances and I think he was disappointed that he didn't make the most of one or two before that. I just felt it was a game that he was going to get an opportunity."
The FCD boss especially liked the pairing of Ruiz and Thompson up top.
"Abe Thompson did well playing up top with him and created a little more space for Carlos," Morrow said. "He (Ruiz) wasn't marked quite as tightly as he would have been playing by himself. Arturo (Alvarez) certainly set him up well for the goal."
Obviously, the FCD players look forward to the prospect of winning the club's first USOC title in a decade. A win on penalty kicks against then-defending Open Cup and two-time defending MLS Cup champion D.C. United in the 1997 final provided the only hardware in the club's trophy case.
"It was definitely a good win for us," said midfielder Arturo Alvarez. "We had put the 4-0 (league) loss to D.C. (from last Saturday) away. The Open Cup is an important tournament for us and making it to the finals is something great. It was a good win for us and I'm really proud of our performance in Seattle."
Seattle had come into the semifinal with back-to-back defeats of MLS clubs, knocking off Chivas USA and the Colorado Rapids. But FCD made sure the Cinderella run would end, even on the Sounders' home field.
"In all of the Open Cup games, we felt like as long as we took care of their main threats by handling long balls and set pieces, we felt like if we were a patient team that our ability to hold possession would break a team down," said right back Bobby Rhine. "That was definitely the case in the second half against Seattle. There were long stretches of possession for us in the second half because they had worn themselves down in the first half. We were able to take advantage of that, find gaps and get goals. We knew it would just be a matter of time."
Since Tuesday's match went into overtime, it makes the third consecutive Open Cup match for FCD that has gone longer than 90 minutes this year.
"Sometimes, you're not going to be able to break a team down, especially playing a team that is a bit lower than you are," center back Aaron Pitchkolan said. "Sometimes it takes more than 90 to get it done. We've been lucky and have gotten some good results."
Morrow joked about his team's propensity for overtime in this year's competition.
"We like to go overtime every single round and play some extra minutes," he quipped. "We're going for the record of minutes played in a season. So, we're trying to get as many overtimes as we can."
World Cup-winning midfielder Denilson got his first start against Seattle but the big lineup change was that Morrow went with David Wagenfuhr at left back instead of Chris Gbandi. Wagenfuhr also will likely start in Saturday's match against Toronto FC.
"Chris (Gbandi) is obviously a great player and he's very valuable for us. He knows he hasn't been in top form recently. We spoke about it a few times and he's just been a little bit inconsistent," Morrow said. "I just felt it was time for a change and Chris agreed with that and didn't argue with it. He knows he's got to work hard to fight for his place back again."
The only downer from Tuesday's win was injuries to FCD center backs Clarence Goodson and Alex Yi. Goodson suffered a concussion and had to leave the field at halftime while Yi had both hamstrings tighten up and left the match in the 56th minute. Goodson is currently questionable for Saturday while Yi should be available for the league match.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
