CARSON, Calif.āIt might not have been pretty toward the end, but FC Dallas capped off a fantastic season Sunday.
A largely uneventful 0-0 draw with LA Galaxy at StubHub Center clinched the Supportersā Shield for Dallas, their second piece of silverware this season after winning the US Open Cup in September.
āIāve been trying hard just to keep the boys in the philosophy of playing one game at a time and with our group sometimes itās, in my opinion, overwhelming just to demand such an assignment,ā said FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja. āItās fine to dream about it, but for them itās just one game at a time. Itās a lot, but now we have the next objective and itās the playoffs and obviously that will make us feel that the treble is possible.ā
Dallas held a reserve-filled Galaxy side in check throughout most of the afternoon, limiting LA to two shots on target all match. Center back and captain Matt Hedges led the stalwart defense, just as he has throughout the season.
āIt was our goal all year [to win the shield],ā Hedges said. āWe worked very hard, and it came to fruition. We were the best team all year, I feel like, and we got rewarded.ā
Going into Sundayās match, all Dallas needed was a win or a draw to clinch the Supportersā Shield, but it certainly wasnāt going to be easy. Not only were they facing LA at home, who were 8-1-7 at StubHub Center entering the affair, but they were without the services of Mauro Diaz, who was ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Add in the fact that FC Dallas would be on short rest, as they played a CONCACAF Champions League game in Guatemala on Thursday, and Sunday looked to be an uphill battle.
ā[Itās a] reward for the guys for such an effort this week,ā Pareja said. āGoing to Guatemala for CONCACAF, and getting a tremendous result against Seattle [via last weekend's 2-1 win], put us in this run and gave us the option to own the destiny of this club. They came to LA and got the job done, so we are very proud.ā
Now the focus turns to the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, where should Dallas win the MLS Cup, theyād become the first team in league history to win the domestic ātreble.ā Despite that significant opportunity, FC Dallas are sticking to the model that has gotten them this far.
āWe go one game at a time,ā Hedges said. āIt was Supportersā Shield, and itās behind us, and now weāre focused on the playoffs. We have whoever our opponent is next, and weāll go from there.ā