HOOPS' QUEST FOR THE CUP BEGINS IN DENVER:
After a two-year absence, FC Dallas is back in the MLS Cup Playoffs beginning this weekend. In the Western Conference Semifinals, the No. 2 seed Hoops will take on the No. 3 seed Colorado Rapids in a two-game, home-and-home, aggregate goals series. The opening leg of this series will be played on Saturday night at INVESCO Field at Mile High in Denver and will be broadcast locally on UPN 21.
Colin Clarke's men are 2-0-2 against Colorado this season, including a 1-0-1 mark in the Mile High City. The two sides' played to a scoreless draw in Colorado on April 9 in the Rapids home opener before the Hoops came away with all three points in a 3-1 win on June 25 at INVESCO. Bobby Rhine and Abe Thompson each scored in the final five minutes on that day to give Dallas its third straight win.</p>
The win was the first for Dallas in Colorado since the 2001 season, snapping a seven-game winless streak there.</p>
In addition to watching the game live at 8 p.m. on UPN 21, you can listen to Game One of this Western Conference Semifinal series live on KFCD 990AM (English) with Ray Canevari or Radio AYO 1540AM (Spanish) with Carlos Alvarado and Jesus Padilla. </p>
TRAINING SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, October 18: DAY OFF
Wednesday, October 19: 9:30 a.m. @ Pizza Hut Park
Thursday, October 20: 9:30 a.m. @ Pizza Hut Park
Friday, October 21: 9:30 a.m. @ Pizza Hut Park
Saturday, October 22: FC Dallas (No. 2 Seed) at Colorado Rapids (No. 3 Seed) at 8:00 p.m. (CDT) at INVESCO Field at Mile High on UPN 21
Sunday, October 23: TRAVEL DAY
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:
THE FINAL FOUR: The last time that Dallas was in the playoffs, in 2002, it was eliminated by this weekend's opponent Colorado. Dallas was defeated in that series by a Mark Chung goal in the sudden death mini game that followed Game Three of the two sides' MLS Quarterfinal series. Only four current FC Dallas players wore the Red and Black of the Burn in that series. Ronnie O'Brien, Oscar Pareja and Bobby Rhine each started all three games of that series, collecting a goal and three assists combined while Eddie Johnson came off the bench in all three games, each time replacing Rhine.
Current FC Dallas assistant coach Steve Morrow also started for Dallas in all three games of that series and even collected the lone postseason goal of his MLS career in Dallas' 4-2 win in Game One. </p>
O'BRIEN JUST SHY OF ASSIST RECORD: With his two assists on Saturday against the Wizards, FC Dallas midfielder Ronnie O'Brien tied Oscar Pareja for the third most assists in a single season for the Hoops with 12. Jason Kreis has the club record with 15 assists during his 1999 MVP season while he also has the second best mark in club history with 13 assists a year later. Pareja tallied 12 assists in 2001 for a career-high, a mark that was equaled this year by O'Brien who was also named the Hoops 2005 Honda Most Valuable Player on Saturday.
The two assists against the Wizards also allowed the 26-year old Irishman to leapfrog Mark Santel and Antonio Martinez into fifth place all-time in assists for the Dallas franchise.</p>
For his career, O'Brien now has 24 assists, placing him only behind Chad Deering, Bobby Rhine, Pareja and Jason Kreis for the most in team history. Kreis holds that record with 65 from 247 games compared to O'Brien's 24 in 74 games.</p>
NUNEZ WONDER GOAL HONORED BY MLS: FC Dallas midfielder Ramon Nunez is one of five players nominated for the Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Week Award. This is the third consecutive week for a FC Dallas player to be nominated for the award, with Aaron Pitchkolan's strike against the Galaxy losing out to a goal from Real Salt Lake's Clint Mathis two weeks ago, and Bobby Rhine's equalizing volley against Columbus from October 5 falling to Freddy Adu's goal this past week.
Nunez's goal, his fifth of the season, came in the 75th minute of the Hoops 2-2 draw Kansas City on Saturday night. With his team leading 1-0, Nunez took a pass from Simo Valakari about 25 yards from goal spun away from his defender and lashed a shot past Wizards 'keeper Bo Oshoinyi from just outside the box to double the Dallas lead.</p>
Speaking about his goal after the game, Nunez said, "I got a good ball from Simo (Valakari), turned and had an open look so I just took the shot. Luckily for us it went in."
To view Nunez's strike, as well as the rest of the nominees, and to vote for your favorite, head to www.mlsnet.com and click on the Sierra Mist logo, or just <b>Click here</b>.</p>
