For a little more than 80 minutes at Toyota Stadium, the storyline was simple. The Seattle Sounders were set to advance to the Western Conference finals after holding FC Dallas to a scoreless tie.
The plot thickened, though, and FC Dallas eventually walked away the victors after a 4-2 penalty kick shootout win in Frisco, Texas.
The wild 2-1 (3-3 on aggregate) finish helped the Western Conference regular season leader advance to the conference finals of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Less than a minute after coming onto the field as a substitute, Tesho Akindele headed in what appeared to be the game-winning goal in the 85th minute, but the night was just getting started.
Je-Vaughn Watson played a beautiful cross into the box from the right wing. Akindele, who had just come on as a substitute for Victor Ulloa, made a near-post run and headed in the game’s first goal.
That goal wouldn’t be the only one of the evening, though.
Chad Marshall soared high in the 90th minute and headed in a corner kick to give the Sounders the 1-1 equalizer. The goal would see the visitors through to the finals if they held on for the tie in Texas, but that scenario didn’t exactly play out either.
In what proved to be a spectacular ending to regular time, FC Dallas would score in the 91st minute to force extra time. Following a corner kick, Blas Perez flicked the ball in the front of goal, and Walker Zimmerman nodded it on into the back of the net for the game’s third goal.
For a majority of the 90 minutes, the visiting Sounders sat deep within their own defensive third. The game plan proved effective, and FC Dallas couldn’t break through until late.
Not too many chances opened up for either side in the first half. Sounders fullback Tyrone Mears found space to attack down the right wing in the 36th minute, but he could not pinpoint anyone near the six-yard box with his low cross.
FC Dallas’ best chance to score during the first 45 minutes came two minutes until the break. Mauro Diaz sent a long ball over the Sounders’ midfield, and Michael Barrios controlled it before blasting a shot on frame. The opportunity did not truly test Stefan Frei, though, as the Sounders netminder easily made the save.
FC Dallas came out of halftime with waves of attack.
Frei proved vital once again, producing an important kick save in the 52nd minute. Barrios sent a low cross into the center of the penalty box from the right wing. Castillo was there and blasted a right-footed effort towards goal, but the Sounders goalkeeper kept the scoreline level.
Diaz connected with Akindele in the 95th minute of extra time, but the latter’s shot on frame was thwarted by Frei. Dallas continued to test a tired Sounders defense, but to no avail in the first period.
Akindele was the instigator again in the 116th minute, but Frei came up with another great save to keep the scoreline level on aggregate. The game ended, 2-1 (3-3 on aggregate), and each team’s fate was decided in a penalty shootout.
Clint Dempsey scored the first penalty kick for the Sounders, while Diaz converted as well.
Then, FC Dallas took the lead, as Gonzalez saved Andreas Ivanschitz’s effort. Ryan Hollingshead coolly blasted his spot kick down the middle, and Gonzalez saved Chad Barrett‘s shot.
Tesho Akindele sent the stadium into a frenzy with a successfully converted kick, but Andy Rose kept the Sounders alive with a conversion of his own.
In the end, though, Walker Zimmerman stepped up and thumped his chance past Frei for the game-winning penalty kick.
FC Dallas will face off against either the Vancouver Whitecaps or Portland Timbers in the Western Conference finals.
Dallas is such a fun team to watch and they are so young and oblivious that the pressure of the moment just doesn’t affect them. That 20 yr old keeper bossed the shootout!
Seattle invented playoff choking
Ha! They may have not invented it but they sure have perfected it.
Seattle didn’t invent anything having to do with results. They werent around to invent. They didn’t exist until over a decade after the league was established.
I take that back…Seattle did invent something: the annoying Seattle Sounders fan and contributed to the invention of annoying Seattle Sounders coverage.
Have to be there to choke, how many have made it every year they have been in the league.
Now that being said Sigi has this habit of playing conservative in the playoffs and it bites them in the butt every year.
In 9 playoff series the Sounders have scored 5 road goals and two of those came after losing 2-1 at home to PT. Sigi always talks about playing attacking soccer, yet when they get to the playoffs it appears they play not to lose by a lot.
Yes injuries were a factor, but if you know the D is going to be the weak point because of injuries don’t you play to the strength which would have been offensive players.
If the sounders had scored one goal early in the game then I get it because then it takes 3 to lose in regulation whereas with his awesome strategy it only took one and it was a miracle they didn’t lose.
Why play Valdez for 70 minutes when you are playing conservative. They could have save him and brought him on if needed for OT.
Wow, the league must not be happy. With No LA or Seattle in the final you can just hear those TV sets being turned off. Should have sent Geiger to do the game. He could have made it come out right
There are other, better teams that the league needs to showcase.
LA and Seattle can kiss off.
Is Seattle brass going to cut the cord with Schmidt finally? If so look for Kreis to be a top candidate to come in and work along side Garth Lagerway once again. It would be a good move.
I think Sounders underperformed this year more than any other. They came in loaded and killing MLS. Then went into a tailspin, loaded up on a bunch more talent and rebounded to make the playoffs. A few more points and they could have had a first round bye. Point is that there team is way to talented to not at least make it to the conference finals.
Agreed on Sigi. He just can’t get them over the hump. Kreis is the move,…but can he Manage Clint Dempsey?
Kudos to Oscar Pereja. He has done a wonderful job. Coach of the year in my book.
FCD deserved that win.
Even with Castillo having a bad game FCD was in command. It would have been unjust to see that team fall short.
Jesse Gonzalez is going to bee a hot prospect for Mexican teams really soon.
Dallas needs to get a nice striker who has a killer finish and is excellent at spatial awareness and feeling out the back line (Chicharito?) Diaz can serve up balls all day long. Diaz + speedy wingers already is a handful, but give him a striker who can find space and finish and Dallas is a dynasty team for the future.
Dallas should go into the Mexican leagues to find that guy. It would serve the purpose of making the team fantastic and also attracting local fans to make the long drive to Frisco.
Dallas won’t spend the money on an expensive international. They need to keep scanning Concacaf and SA for those forwards (until their academy produces one).
I disagree. They’ll spend at some point. They have in the past and they will in the future.
Dallas is the ideal landing spot for a Mexican star player.
Maybe we could get one but it would have to be someone like Klose(Kinda a bit old though) who isn’t really concerned about Hype or location and just wants to play and play.
FCD/Burn has never had a player on a 7 figure contract. Denilson (failure) and David Fererria are the highest salary players they’ve ever paid.
FC Dallas is winning with a bunch of kids.
If they go all the way they’ll be the first MLS team, I can think of, to win by mainly a roster of academy products.
We have a lot of academy products out there but some important imported talent too. Other teams will have to copy Dallas for depth purposes if nothing else.
The real shocker to me even as a fan is our goal keeper. We’re playing a 20 year old home grown over Dan Kennedy.
Dallas has, by far, the lowest payroll in the league.
Dallas buys young prospects from South American leagues. Diaz, Castillo, Texiera, and Barrios, who have been the crux of the Dallas attack, all fit that same mold. They were all relatively cheap and all had some kind of stand-out trait (speed or vision+ball skills in these cases).
The academy kids that Dallas has developed currently on the team are Ulloa, Acosta, Gonzalez, Zendejas and Craft (forgive me if I have forgotten any). It’s important to note that Dallas is drawing from arguably the best youth soccer region in the nation. Dallas’ academy players come from all over the state. Dallas/Fort Worth is already one of the best regions in the country and it hasn’t even been fully tapped yet.
Most of the rest of the team Dallas has drafted and developed: Zach Lloyd, Matt Hedges, Ryan Hollingshead, Tesho Akindele, etc.
Dallas has the model that all off-brand cities in MLS should follow. Teams like New York, LA and maybe Toronto and Orlando (Europeans know about and love Florida) have the money and the lifestyle to be able to tempt older European players, but cities like columbus, dallas, salt lake city ect do not.
So how do you compete? Sign south americans (where MLS is competitive in terms of salary and benefits of living in US vs SA) and invest in Youth academies to fill out depth.
I agree with both of yall. Scouting stand out traits works. It gives you the ability to change games in very specific ways. If you know a specific player happens to be slow, we can move Barrios around to put near him.
I will say that Dallas does have one advantage that other regions maybe don’t. Everyone plays soccer here at a young age. It means at the least that the talent pool all tries the game. If they stay is a different matter but it gives Scouts the chance to find those young kids before highschool football gets a hold of them.