With just a few minutes remaining in the match, it looked as if FC Dallas were ready to pick up three points in an MLS game for the first time 41 days.
But in similar fashion to the rest of the five-game road trip just concluded with a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids on Friday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, heartbreak struck as Dallas gave up a goal in the 88th minute to midfielder Dillon Serna to erase a 1-0 lead and leave the visitors settling for just one point in the standings.
“Unfortunately we could not just seal the result. That was unfortunate for us,” head coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “Obviously we’re not happy, but we were just two minutes away from winning the three points.”
With the draw, Dallas complete their daunting road swing without a single win, going 0-3-2 during the stretch. But this game was winnable for FC Dallas, despite the fact that it was the club’s third game in a six-day window. They were coming off of a dominating 4-1 win against the Oklahoma City Energy on Tuesday in US Open Cup play and were facing the team at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
The biggest challenge Dallas faced, however, was striking the right balance when it comes to allocating minutes between players, given the congested schedule.
“To be honest with all of the traveling we have had and the Open Cup game during the week, we tried to just get some players who we think had the energy to respond today,” Pareja said, “because coming to Colorado isn’t easy with the altitude and big field and all of those things.”
Regardless of the obstacles entering the match, Dallas were in prime position to leave the contest with three points after midfielder Fabian Castillo scored his fifth goal of the season by bending a shot from the back of the penalty box right off of goalkeeper Clint Irwin’s gloves and into the corner of the net. The goal gave Dallas a 1-0 lead in the 71st minute that they would take into the waning minutes of the game.
But with a makeshift defense and Pareja substituting captain Matt Hedges into the game in the 79th minute despite not practicing fully with the squad during the week due to a hamstring injury, Dallas gave up a goal after Hedges missed a header attempt that could have cleared what turned out to be Serna’s tying goal.
“We should have closed out that game and come away with the three points,” goalkeeper Dan Kennedy said after the match.
Even though the team is disappointed with the less-than-desirable results from the lengthy road trip, they finally return to Frisco to play in front of their home fans – something they have not done since May 15th.
“We’re ready to get a win,” defender Zach Loyd said. “That one hurts not getting a win. But at the same time, you’ve got to look at the positives. We’ve got four games at home now coming up out of the next five. I think we’re looking forward to that.”
