FCDallas Is In The Playoffs!

Photo by Willie Martin 'Mr. Will"

Back on March 8th there was a uniform being raised at the American Airlines Center in a moving and emotional ceremony before a packed house.

Paying homage to a person who has meant the world and will continue to be the ambassador to Texas hockey.

Mike Modano put hockey on the map in 1993.

Something else was going on up in Frisco Texas. A cold, wet, windy Opening Night for the the local MLS soccer team.

FCDallas and the Montreal Impact played before a packed house despite the rotten weather. FCDallas won the match 3-2 and a season had begun.

Gone was the familiar face we had known for so long (Schellas Hyndman) and an old familiar face returned to lead this team.

Oscar Pareja in a twist of irony had just left a Colorado Rapids team that was taken to the playoffs one year prior. 

It was one month later that the Stars returned to the playoffs after five years away. For one series you felt the impact of change.

Going into play on Sunday night the scenario was simple: One win and Team Pareja is in!

It wasn't going to be easy with the L.A. Galaxy as the opponent. A team with a player who will be retiring when this season ends-Landon Donovan.

A capacity crowd of 19,039 made the trek to Toyota Stadium to pay respects to Landon and to perhaps see another drought come to an end. The last time FCDallas went to the playoffs in the 2011. The journey took them all the way to the MLS Finals before Toronto would deny the Hunts and North Texas the glory.

That last tidbit ran through my mind as the match with the LA Galaxy commenced October 12. It didn't look promising when LA scored first in the 22nd minute on a solo shot by Stefan Ishizaki from the right which caught the left hand corner of the net.

Coming into this game when the Galaxy scored first their record was 14-0-4.

Then again one wonderful intangible about watching this FCDallas team in 2014 led by Oscar Pareja? The ability to come back and to do late!

In essence doing the improbable late in games. And why not? What has the slogan for the Frisco faithful been all season?

#RedFor90.

Trailing 1-0 at the intermission Oscar Pareja began a plan of attack in which the team started working the offense toward the outer edges of the Galaxy's defense via the wing territory. The hunch paid off in the 52nd minute when David Texeira successfully got behind the Galaxy defense and caught a pass from Andres Escobar to fire a one-timer past Jaime Penedo to knot things up at 1 apiece.

Keep in mind that the LA Galaxy also had incentive to win in the quest for the Supporters Shield (best record in soccer) after the Sounders suffered a defeat to the Whitecaps earlier. 

In true Seattle fashion a steady mist began to fall over Toyota Stadium for the second half as FCDallas and the Galaxy battled onward in a chess match of possession and passing.

Just when everyone was preparing for one point and a draw...ADVANTAGE FCDallas!

In the 88th minute Andres Escobar had a free look at the goal as the ball came to him and fired...only to have it deflected by Penedo. The deflection went right upon the head of Fabian Castillo who redirected the ball back into the open net.

Hello bedlam. Hello lead. Hello victory and hello playoffs! 

There WILL be MLS Soccer in November in North Texas. With two games left to go in the regular season FCDallas (15-11-6 51 points) has now surpassed their points total from 2013 and now sit in 4th place 1 point behind Real Salt Lake for 3rd place. 

If FCDallas can get the coveted 3rd place spot that means a weekend playoff game at home compared to a mid week matchup come November.

It was a very happy crowd that left Toyota Stadium before horrendous weather slammed into North Texas.

While heading down to the locker room my mind continued to go back to something Oscar Oareja spoke about two months ago during the US Open Cup when he said something very moving.

'This is the group of kids that I dreamed I would one day get to coach', Pareja said back in the summer. I asked him how it felt to be back in the playoffs.

“It feels great. This is home…My commitment was to bring the playoffs back this year and we’re here,” said Pareja. “I feel great, but the job is not done yet. There are a lot of things to work on and I really think we can qualify third and fight for that spot and have a long run in the playoffs.”

It was a very festive locker room after the game. David Texeira certainly echoed the sentiments of the team. 

“Every player wants to fight for big things, for trophies, so that’s the most important thing,” said Texeira. “When you play, you want to win things. You have to have hunger. You have to believe. He says you have to believe that we’re a good team and anything is possible. That’s what we’re doing every match, we show it on the field and we believe in ourselves.”

You could sense the relief and the emotion in Oscar Pareja's voice when addressing the media. He was one happy coach and here is the full post game press conference. 

How ironic that next week Oscar Pareja heads back to Colorado with a playoff spot clinched against the last team he coached into the MLS playoffs.

Prior to the game the Hunt brothers provided Landon Donovan with a touching video tribute for his service to the game for the last two decades. Cowboy boot and a ten gallon hat among the many gifts Landon received. Donovan will be retiring after the 2014 season. L.A. and the Seattle Sounders will be facing off against each other the next two weeks for Supporters Shield superiority.

Landon Donovan also a guest speaker at the Hilton Anatole October 13 in Dallas as part of SMU's luncheon series.

Now I will understand if in fact you didn't remember Opening Night March 8th this year because of Mike Modano night.

This is a night all soccer fans will remember mere moments after America's Team knocked off the Super Bowl champions in the Northwest. 

March 8th you probably had little memory of Opening Night for FCDallas. Come November in the playoffs there's no excuse to forget. 

First playoff visit since 2011. Oh, wait. I forgot about that playoff run. We were a baseball town then thanks to the Texas Rangers.

Even so something tells me that FCDallas-winners of games over Seattle, Los Angeles, and Real Salt Lake in the last month-under the leadership of Coach Pareja might very well make an impact far beyond the galaxy as we know it.

Pun intended.

One final note of interest. Tesho Akindele should be your 2014 Rookie Of The Year!

Over and out in Big D.

Mr. Will