Whitecaps FC-FC Dallas Preview
After an intense and often heated season series, it's fitting the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas are meeting for the right to advance in the Western Conference playoffs.
Looking for a fifth straight shutout, the surging Whitecaps try for their first road victory over Dallas in Wednesday night's one-game elimination match.
Each team won a game and played to a draw in the three 2014 meetings. A total of 31 fouls were committed during Vancouver's 2-0 home win Oct. 4, after which Dallas coach Oscar Pareja was caught on tape shoving Whitecaps assistant Martyn Pert in the chest. Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted also appeared to exchange words with Dallas striker Blas Perez in the match.
Those incidents came a month after Pert and Dallas assistant Josema Bazan were ejected from the sidelines for dissent during Dallas' 2-1 home victory Sept. 13.
"We're very competitive, no one likes to lose and you can see the rivalry on the field in all three games," Dallas midfielder Victor Ulloa told the team's official website. "We had an incident here, but that's just the intensity that we bring.
"We're ready to win. We know they're a hot team, but they're going to come here and we're going to (play hard) on Wednesday night."
Vancouver went 4-0-1 down the stretch, earning the fifth and final playoff spot in the West with a 1-0 victory over Colorado on Saturday. The Whitecaps haven't allowed a goal since the 57th minute of a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Sept. 27, a span that's covered 393 minutes.
"We've not been bad over the last few games," coach Carl Robinson told the Whitecaps' official website.
"No one expected us to get into the playoffs except me, that group of players and the club. We had a quiet belief about us, without an arrogance, and we did. Now we're in it, who knows? Spin that wheel."
Though the Whitecaps are confident, they don't have history on their side in their second-ever playoff match.
Vancouver, which lost 2-1 to Los Angeles in the 2012 knockout round, has been outscored 10-2 while losing all five matches at Dallas. Perez scored two of his three goals against the Whitecaps this season in the September victory.
Robinson, however, continues to relish his team's role as the underdog.
"Dallas (has) finished above us, so they're probably favorites," Robinson said. "They're at home. We've got nothing to lose."
Dallas hopes its first postseason trip in three years provides a fresh start after it went 4-5-0 over the final two months. Fourth-place Dallas posted a 19-8 scoring advantage during an eight-match home winning streak that ended with Saturday's 2-0 loss to Portland.
"It was a lot of work, but if we don't win this game then what's the point?" defender Matt Hedges told Dallas' official website. "We need to go out on Wednesday and get a result."
For the second straight season, Perez posted a team-leading 11 league goals.
Vancouver's Sebastian Fernandez scored two of his five this season in the victory over Dallas.
The winner of this contest hosts Supporters' Shield winner Seattle in the first leg of the conference semifinals Sunday night.