By Will Martin
In the course of two weeks the team of FC Dallas has been busy with partaking in the yearly U.S. Open Lamar Hunt Trophy.
June 17 I was privy to seeing Oscar Pareja’s team take on the San Antonio Scorpions of the NASL and proceed to be victorious 2-0 courtesy of goals by Fabian Castillo in the 74th minute in between the legs of a Scorpion defender after a solid cut pass by Andrew Jacobson for a 1-0 lead.
Goal number 2 was scored in the 81st minute courtesy of Andres Escobar after a pass from David Texeira.
Chris Seitz was challenged early in the first half with shot attempts but was able to stop the sting of the Scorpions momentum-namely Billy Forbes and Eric Hassli, a one time FC Dallas starter.
The win meant a rematch with their in state rival, the Houston Dynamo down at BBVA Compass Stadium on June 24th. A match where the first half was a give and take for goal scoring courtesy of Fabian Castillo and Giles Barnes.
Things got interesting in the second half when Andres Escober would connect on a shot on the top of the box past Goalkeeper Tally Hall and a 2-1, assisted by Fabian Castillo.
In the 62nd minute the Dynamo had an answer for the Red For 90 guys when Omar Cummings would pounce on an Adam Moffat giveaway to tie things at 2-all. And there it would stay for the next 28 minutes.
Under U.S. Open mandates a 30 minute period was up next for the two Texas behemoths. It took all of 8 minutes for Tesho Akindele to make Warren Creavelle pay for a turnover as Tesho struck an ankle breaker for a 3-2 victory for FC Dallas.
With the win FC Dallas moves on to the quarterfinals. They will travel to North Carolina to face the Carolina RailHawks at a later date.
A regular season matchup was scheduled for June 28th in Columbus with the Crew in Ohio. Due to the nature of bad weather (and a fan getting struck by lightning) caused a cancellation of play that night.
Rescheduled for June 29th a hot and steamy afternoon awaited the Boys from Frisco. Ten years ago this week I attended my first soccer game with the Burn and Fire at the original Cotton Bowl while Jessica Simpson was performing at the Smirnoff Center on her 21st birthday.
I still have my poster of Jason Kreis given away that July night 2004.
Ten years ago the Crew and Burn played to a 0-0 draw.
Despite numerous shot attempts at the net Michel was denied in the 13th minute on a crisp chest stop by Michael Parkhurst. Tesho Akindele had a wide open look at the net inside the box and managed to hit the post in the 52nd minute.
FC Dallas happily takes the point and improves to 6-7-5 while the Crew drew for a third straight game and now sit at 4-5-7. Columbus played without the services of Waylon Franics or Giancarlo (World Cup) while FC Dallas had Moises Hernandez, Blas Perez, and Fabian Castillo inactive due to suspension.
A 4th of July match with the Philadelphia Union promises to sellout Toyota Stadium for a fifth consecutive year with post game fireworks. I will be there. Let’s see if FC Dallas can continue their winning ways as they currently sit in fourth with 23 points. Two points behind Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids, 12 back of the Seattle Sounders.
Upcoming Schedule
7/4 vs Philadelphia Union 8:00 p.m.
