HOOPS STAYING HOT AT HOME:
Despite having to settle for a draw against Houston on Saturday, FC Dallas remained unbeaten at Pizza Hut Park this season, improving its record to 4-0-1 at home. FC Dallas now has a team record 10-game unbeaten streak at PHP, dating back to a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake on September 18, 2005. During those 10 games, FCD is 7-0-3 and is outscoring opponents 19-10. Its last home defeat came on September 10, 2005 in a 2-1 loss against D.C. United.
The MLS record for the longest home-unbeaten streak is 18 games, set by the San Jose Earthquakes from September 25, 2004 to the end of last season.
QUEST FOR EL CAPITAN: FC Dallas picked up its first point in its season series against Houston Dynamo with Saturday's 1-1 draw. The winner of the season series will be awarded a 19th century Mountain Howitzer cannon, which, on Saturday, was officially named "El Capitan" via an online poll. The two Texas-based MLS teams have now played the first two games of their four-game series that will decide which team is able to claim El Capitan for the entire 2007 season. With two games left to play in the series, the standings looking like this...
Team W L T Pts. GF GA
Houston 1 0 1 4 5 4
FC Dallas 0 1 1 1 4 5
During the first year of the series, the cannon will travel to each home stadium and be fired as the home team wishes. At the end of the 2006 regular season finale between the clubs, the team with the most points will retain the cannon for the entire next season. In the event of a tie in points after the four regular season games, the tie breakers will be as follows: greatest goal-differential in the series; most road goals in the series; most goals scored in the series.
BATTLE OF THE TOP TWO: They have been the two best strikers in MLS over the past five seasons, and on Saturday, they will go head-to-head at Pizza Hut Park. New England forward Taylor Twellman and his FC Dallas counterpart Carlos Ruiz rank first and second respectively in MLS in goals scored over the past five seasons. Since the start of the 2002 season, the first in MLS for both players, Twellman has recorded 67 goals in 104 games (.644 goals per game) while Ruiz has notched 64 goals in 98 games (.653 goals per game). The next closest player to that pair is Jeff Cunningham with 45 goals in 111 games (.405 goals per game) from the start of the 2002 campaign.
Ruiz and Twellman have faced off against one another on nine occasions since the start of the 2002 season, with each scoring six goals in those nine games. Both Ruiz and Twellman have recorded a lone multi-goal game against the other, with Ruiz grabbing a brace in a 2-1 win over New England on August 23, 2003 as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy, while Twellman claimed a hat trick in his team's 3-2 win over FCD on July 16, 2005.
LOSING AT HOME: Saturday's meeting with New England will be the second-ever between the two teams at Pizza Hut Park and gives the Revolution the chance to become the first team to win a pair of games at the stadium. New England claimed a 2-1 win over FCD on August 13, 2005 behind goals from Clint Dempsey and Shalrie Joseph, making the Revs, along with D.C. United and San Jose, the only teams to walk away from PHP with the full three points.
Additionally, the Revolution is the only MLS team to have won in their first visit to all three stadiums that Dallas has played in. On September 7, 1996, the Revs grabbed a 2-0 win over Dave Dir's side at the Cotton Bowl. For the 2003 season, Dallas moved to Dragon Stadium in Southlake and New England was a winner there as well, pulling out a 2-1 victory on April 26, 2003, before last season's win at Pizza Hut Park.
500 GOALS ALLOWED: On Saturday, FC Dallas became the fourth team in MLS history to allow 500 goals in its history. The Hoops have played a total of 314 games since the start of MLS in 1996, scoring 484 goals in that time while allowing 500, or 1.6 goals per game over the past 11 years.
Saturday's opponent, New England, was the first team in MLS history to surrender 500 goals, doing so on September 17, 2005 in a 5-4 loss to the MetroStars. The MetroStars were the next team to reach the 500 goals allowed plateau on October 1, 2005 in a 4-1 loss to D.C. United. Just over a month ago, in a 3-1 win over Columbus, the Colorado Rapids became the first Western Conference team to allow 500 goals in their history.
FC DALLAS WEEKLY LIVE FROM DAVE AND BUSTER'S IN FRISCO: FC Dallas Weekly is back at Dave and Buster's inside the Stonebriar Mall in Frisco this Thursday night, starting at 7 p.m. FC Dallas midfielder Richard Mulrooney, who recently returned to the Hoops' starting lineup after nearly a year on the sidelines because of a knee injury, will be on location to talk about his long road back to the starting XI, and what his goals are for the remainder of the 2006 season.
Joining Mulrooney and host, Ray Canevari at Dave and Buster's will be the Hoops' first-year Goalkeeping Coach Alan Knight who will talk about his long and distinguished career in England as well as his first three months on the job with Colin Clarke and Co. A series of other guests, including FCD Head Coach Colin Clarke, will drop by to look ahead at the New England game this weekend and everything else that is going on in the world of soccer. Be sure to check out www.fcdallas.net for all the latest on FC Dallas Weekly.
TRAINING SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, May 16: DAY OFF
Wednesday, May 17: 10:00 a.m. at Pizza Hut Park - adidas Field #1
Thursday, May 18: 10:00 a.m. at Pizza Hut Park - adidas Field #1
Friday, May 19: 10:00 a.m. at Pizza Hut Park - adidas Field #1
Saturday, May 20: GAME - FC Dallas (4-1-3, 15 points) vs. New England Revolution (3-2-1, 10 points), 7:30 p.m. (CT) at Pizza Hut Park.
Sunday, May 21: RESERVE GAME - FC Dallas (1-2-1, 4 points) vs. New England Revolution (0-1-1, 1 point) 10 a.m. at Pizza Hut Park - adidas Field #1.
- Practice schedule is subject to change. All times Central.
