WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - FIRST LEG
FC DALLAS v SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Sun., Nov. 2, Toyota Stadium (8 p.m. CT; ESPN2 / TSN2 in Canada)
Supporters' Shield winners Seattle Sounders FC make their MLS Cup Playoffs 2014 presented by AT&T debut when they meet Knockout Round winner FC Dallas in the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series on Sunday evening at Toyota Stadium. Sounders FC own home-field advantage throughout the postseason after finishing with the best overall regular season record, sealed with a 2-0 win against the LA Galaxy last weekend. FC Dallas started off their playoff campaign with a 2-1 win against Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the West knockout match on Wednesday in Frisco.
Which team will win the series?
LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD:
DAL 3 wins, 17 goals … SEA 8 wins, 24 goals … Ties 4
2014 HEAD-TO-HEAD:
DAL 1 win, 6 goals … SEA 2 wins, 6 goals … Ties 0
AT TOYOTA STADIUM:
4/12: DAL 2, SEA 3 (Texeira 10; Michel 42 – Dempsey 22, 85; own goal 75)
9/24: DAL 3, SEA 1 (Texeira 8, 78; Perez 88 - Neagle 58)
MLS CUP PLAYOFFS:
First meeting.
REFEREE: Allen Chapman.
AR1 (bench): Corey Rockwell; AR2 (opposite): Paul Scott;
4th: Ricardo Salazar
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
DAL: Je-Vaughn Watson, Andres Escobar (suspended next yellow card)
FC DALLAS
- FC Dallas won their first playoff game since 2010, winning for the ninth time in the last 10 matches in league and cup play at Toyota Stadium.
- "After the performance last Saturday that we didn't like, they came back today playing better soccer on the field, with better energy. We ended up winning a game that was well deserved - we deserve to be in the semifinals," said FCD head coach Oscar Pareja.
- Tesho Akindele, who finished tied with Chicago's Harry Shipp for the rookie scoring lead with seven goals, scored his first career MLS Cup Playoffs goal.
- Mauro Diaz, who had started just one league match since the start of May (that on Aug. 9), was given the start in an attacking midfield role behind Blas Perez as the lone out-and-out striker. But Diaz will be suspended for the first leg of the Sounders FC series.
- "We threw him a hard ball and he showed us that he's prepared for it. He's recovering and he's trying to get his rhythm," said Pareja. "In the last game, during the last 10 minutes, when we were starting to look tired and we couldn't find the ball against Portland, he came and turned the lights on for us. When Mauro is on the field, the lights are on more frequently."
- Zach Loyd, who had started at center back and right back, made his second start all season at left back (also on Aug. 9). Walker Zimmerman made his second start in an MLS game since that date, his postseason debut.
- "The whole team came out with a mentality where we would go in hard on every 50-50 ball. For 90 minutes, you have to go on both sides of the ball going forward and getting back defensively. We came into this game with the mentality that if we lose then we go home. It gave us an extra kick," Loyd said.
- Chris Seitz was given the start in goal for the Knockout Round match after starting two of the final three league games, his first starts since being injured July 4.
- The game-winning goal came from a penalty kick, the first playoff PK scored by Dallas since 2000. FC Dallas won nine penalties during the regular season, tied for fourth-most in MLS (and second-most among playoff teams, behind Vancouver.
- "When Michel is in the game, he is the first option to take the penalty. I did not attempt to take the penalty because I have confidence in him. We all knew that he was going to score," said Blas Perez.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
- Sounders FC enter the postseason as the top seed overall by virtue of winning the Supporters' Shield. But the Shield winner has not doubled as MLS Cup champion since 2011, and just twice in the last 11 seasons.
- “To me if you look around at other leagues, if you win the league it’s a big deal no matter what the public thinks of it," said Clint Dempsey. "We were the best team throughout the course of the league and around other leagues, that’s celebrated more so than when it is in the States, but we are going to celebrate it as a championship. We have two now and we are looking to win an MLS Cup.”
- For a second consecutive game, Marco Pappa came off the substitutes' bench. "It looked like last week he had a hamstring, but we weren’t sure, so we wanted to make sure we were set defensively because we wanted to make sure we established that part of our game," said Schmid. "We will see who the next opponent is in the next round, and we’ll see the matchups. He is a very important player to our team and a skillful player who can make things happen.”
- Pappa did scored a pair of goals, his third career multi-goal game in MLS. Pappa had three goals and two assists in the final five league games.
- "When you look at Pappa and Neagle, two of our flank players, there are 15 goals from your wide players; that is pretty good. That has been a strength of ours in Seattle, getting goals from our wide players,” Schmid said.
- Gonzalo Pineda made his second consecutive start after being out of the first team for five consecutive matches, while Brad Evans made his second consecutive start in a midfield role, after four starts as a fullback.
- Sounders FC ended the season with 15 goals scored in the final quarter-hour, tied for second-most in MLS (behind Portland, 17). "One of the criticized parts of our team has been defending, and that’s a good attacking team, and I thought we held them at bay. We may have bent a little bit, but we held them at bay and got a shutout in a very key game. That is important as we move forward into the playoffs,” Schmid said.
- Obafemi Martins collected his 13th assist, his third over the final two games. Martins has four goals and four assists over the last five league matches.
- "Oba has been great for us this season," Dempsey said. "I mean the team that wins the league, a player should win MVP and I think it should be Oba.”
