By AVI CREDITOR

WASHINGTON – For Schellas Hyndman, one terrible streak came to an end, and two marvelous ones continued.

The FC Dallas coach won for the first time at RFK Stadium in six tries, with David Ferreira, Eric Alexander and Jeff Cunningham each scoring goals in the team's 3-1 victory over D.C. United in front of 12,474 Saturday night.

The victory ran Dallas' unbeaten streak to 10 matches (5-0-5) and also continued its road unbeaten streak, which now stands at nine games (3-0-6) – tied for the best in Major League Soccer history.

"It was a solid performance on our part in a very difficult place to play," Hyndman said. "We don't seem to find a lot of good results here."

Hyndman's players weathered an early, physical storm en route to finding the result they sought.

United (3-14-3) controlled the proceedings early on, peppering Kevin Hartman's goal with chances. The FC Dallas keeper came up with four saves in the first half, none more crucial than coming off his line and sprawling out to get a deflection on Danny Allsopp's breakaway opportunity in the 34th minute.

Two minutes later, Alexander found Brek Shea sneaking behind the United back line, sending in a perfectly timed through ball to the left winger. United keeper Bill Hamid charged out at Shea, who sent a simple cross to the far post, where Ferreira touched it home for the opening goal and his sixth of the season.

"There's not very many times this year where I've had that much of an impact on a game," Hartman said. "When you're able to come up with a couple of saves, and right after that we're able to score, you feel like you really helped your team out."

United appeared to be thrown for an emotional loss with the momentum swing.

"I think up until that point there was some pretty good stuff," D.C. interim head coach Ben Olsen said. "It seemed like after we missed Danny's chance, we took it the wrong way. I felt like there was some air let out."

FC Dallas (8-2-9) took advantage of its vulnerable opponent and doubled its lead four minutes into the second half, with Shea and Ferreira being at the center of the action again.

Shea out-muscled Carey Talley for a 50-50 ball at the edge of the D.C. box, undercutting the defender, but not being whistled for a foul. He played the ball to his left, where Ferreira carried it to the far post before crossing to Milton Rodriguez inside the area.

The midseason acquisition set up Alexander perfectly with a touch to the top of the area, and the rookie out of Indiana University ran onto the ball in stride and powered home his first professional goal.

"I just kept my head down and tried to place it," Alexander said. "It feels really good just to help out the team."

United sliced the deficit in half when Santino Quaranta's in-swinging cross that was intended for Andy Najar by the far post was put into the goal by Dallas defender Jair Benitez in the 79th minute.

Cunningham, a 65th-minute substitution, rendered that moot by taking advantage of a mistake by Dejan Jakovic on a long Benitez clearance in stoppage time. Jakovic lackadaisically approached the ball deep in his own end, allowing Cunningham to swoop in and gain possession without another defender close to the play.

The veteran striker took one touch around Hamid, another touch to settle and then easily slotted home the dagger for his third goal in his last two matches, seventh of the season and 128th of his career. 

He trails Jaime Moreno, who did not play after announcing earlier in the week that this season would be his last with D.C. United, by four for the league's all-time record. 

"As many people say, (Cunningham)'s a pretty streaky player," Hyndman said. "Even though it was on a mistake, he was composed enough to get the ball and dribble around the keeper and put it in. Our goal for him is to beat Jaime's record, so he's getting closer."

FC Dallas is getting closer to cementing its grasp on a playoff spot as well. After starting out the season slowly, Dallas has a league-fewest two losses and trails Real Salt Lake by six points for second place in the Western Conference, with two games in hand.

After finishing 11th in the league table a year ago, Hyndman's crew has turned the page, winning at venues where it had trouble doing so previously and becoming one of the harder teams to defeat in the league.

"We're playing for each other, and we believe in each other," said Shea, who tallied his fourth assist of the season on Ferreira's opening goal. "Everyone works 90-plus minutes, and it's easy when everyone does that."