Local stuff that matters to you.

Did you know about Trinity River Whalers — playing at Trinity Hall tomorrow?

News & events for

Friday, December

46° F
Overcast in DFW

Happy Holidays!

Multimedia:

Marketplace:

Monday, June 1, 2009

FC Dallas 3, Chicago Fire 0

by PegNews wire

With the win, FC Dallas returns the Brimstone Cup to Frisco for the remainder of the 2009 season.

Jamie Walzel

Regardless of FC Dallas' current stronghold on last place in the Western Conference, or the Chicago Fire's previously unbeaten streak, the Brimstone Cup result is usually the same. Despite losing to the club earlier this year, FC Dallas somehow, some way, riding the poorest season on record for the team, netted three goals on an unbeaten Chicago Fire on their own turf, and returned the Cup to Dallas fans.

FCD forward Jeff Cunningham opened scoring on Sunday with a header goal in the 15th minute. Dave van den Bergh delivered an out swinging corner kick that found Cunningham running in on the far side of the goal, his header crossing in front of the goal mouth, beating goalkeeper Jon Busch and a post marker. An own goal in the 35th minute, with CJ Brown heading Dax McCarty's freekick backwards into his own net, put Dallas up by two at the half.

The game was full of cautions, as seven yellows were handed out, with two late in the match on Bakary Soumare, warranting his ejection from the game. Setting up a freekick just outside the box, Kenny Cooper chipped the ball over the wall, kissing the ball on the underside of the close side post, which bounced over the goal line for the point. FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman was sent off right after for "dissent."

The win puts FC Dallas at 2-6-3 and delivers Chicago, the only undefeated team left in the MLS in the 2009, their first loss.

GAME 11 – May 31, 2009

FC DALLAS 3, CHICAGO FIRE 0

Toyota Park – Bridgeview, IL

Scoring:

DAL -- Jeff Cunningham 1 (Dave van den Bergh 4) 15

DAL -- Own Goal (C.J. Brown) 35

DAL -- Kenny Cooper 5 (unassisted) 80

FC DALLAS: Ray Burse, Drew Moor, Pablo Ricchetti, Daniel Torres, Anthony Wallace, Alvaro Sanchez, Dax McCarty, David Ferreira, Dave van den Bergh (Brek Shea 79), Jeff Cunningham (Eric Avila 61), Kenny Cooper.

Subs Not Used: Josh Lambo, Kyle Davies, Blake Wagner, Peri Marosevic, Michael Dello-Russo.

Shots – 7; Shots on Goal – 6; Total Saves – 2; Fouls – 12; Offsides – 2; Corner Kicks – 4

CHICAGO FIRE: Jon Busch, Tim Ward, Bakary Soumare, CJ Brown (Marco Pappa 65), Brandon Prideaux, Patrick Nyarko, John Thorrington, Logan Pause, Justin Mapp (Baggio Husidic 75), Brian McBride, Chris Rolfe (Mike Banner 67).

Subs Not Used: Andrew Dyktsra, Stefan Dimitrov, Gonzalo Segares, Dasan Robinson.

Shots – 7; Shots on Goal – 2; Total Saves – 4; Fouls – 7; Offsides – 2; Corner Kicks – 5

Misconduct Summary:

CHI -- Chris Rolfe (caution) 28

CHI -- Tim Ward (caution) 34

DAL -- Daniel Torres (caution) 48

DAL -- Jeff Cunningham (caution) 54

DAL -- Pablo Ricchetti (caution) 58

CHI -- Bakary Soumare (caution) 66

CHI -- Bakary Soumare (ejection) 79

NOTES:

· With the win, FC Dallas improves to (2-6-3, 9 pts) and gives the Chicago Fire (5-1-6, 21 pts) its first loss of the season. Chicago was the lone undefeated team in Major League Soccer.

· The win extends FCD’s unbeaten streak to three games and puts an end to the team’s three-game road losing streak.

· Dallas remains unbeaten at Toyota Park, having won all four games at the stadium since it opened in 2006, outscoring Chicago 12-4 over that span.

· FCD is now 18-11-2 all-time versus the Chicago Fire and 7-8-1 in Chicago.

· The win evens the season series between the clubs at one win each, which means Dallas will hold the Brimstone Cup for an eighth consecutive season, pending a meeting in this year’s MLS Cup Playoffs.

· The Brimstone Cup is the trophy awarded to the supporters of the club that wins the season series. In the event of a tie during the regular season, the series winner is determined by either a U.S. Open Cup or playoff meeting.

· It was FC Dallas’ first shutout of the season and the third career clean sheet for goalkeeper Ray Burse.

· The team has now held its opponents scoreless in the second half of each of the last three games, bringing the team’s 2009 record to 1-0-3 when doing so.

· Jeff Cunningham’s first goal of the season, a header off a Dave van den Bergh corner kick, extends his league-leading goal total versus Chicago to 19 in 30 career games against the Fire. It was the 105th goal of Cunningham’s career.

· The set-up was van den Bergh’s team-high fourth assist of the year, his third on corner kicks. The Dutch midfielder is now two behind Houston’s Brad Davis, who leads the league with six assists.

· Cunningham, now in his 12th MLS season, today made his 298th career regular season appearance, tying him for ninth on the league’s all-time list with New England’s Jay Heaps. Additionally, it was his 198th career start.

· Dax McCarty set up the second Dallas goal when his free kick from 40 yards out bounced off Fire defender C.J. Brown directly into the net.

· Kenny Cooper added a goal in the 80th minute, a free kick from 25 yards out. Cooper now has five on the season and is in a tie for second in the league behind four players who have six goals each.

· Team captain and regular holding midfielder Pablo Ricchetti started as one of two central defenders. Dax McCarty got the start in the holding midfield role.

· Alvaro Sanchez today made his first-career MLS start on the right side of the midfield.

· Twenty-year-old Anthony Wallace started on the left side of the back line, his first start of the season. It was the sixth start of his career.

· Four Dallas players have now started all 11 regular season games: Cooper, van den Bergh, David Ferreira, and Drew Moor. Moor and Ferreira are the only two remaining to have played every minute this year.

· Cooper tonight started his 43rd consecutive regular season game dating back to the 2007 season, equaling the league’s all-time mark for starts at that position, shared by Taylor Twellman (2005-2007) and Alejandro Moreno (2007-2008).

· Five Dallas players missed tonight’s game due to injury: goalkeeper Dario Sala (L knee), midfielders Bruno Guarda (right ankle) and Andre Rocha (illness), and defenders Steve Purdy (right knee) and George John (right hamstring).

· In addition, midfielder Marcelo Saragosa missed the match while serving a one-game red card suspension.

· Head coach Schellas Hyndman was sent off in the 80th minute for dissent.

· FC Dallas returns to Texas tonight to begin preparing for next week’s home game versus the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday, June 7 (2 p.m. CT live on TeleFutura and KFWD-52).

· Hyndman on the game: “I thought it was a good performance on our part. I also understand how difficult it was for Chicago to play three games in eight days. It’s hard on any team. We tried to take advantage of that by moving the ball, and the heat helped us. Overall I was very pleased with our players. The ball hasn’t bounced right for us this year and today it did bounce right. Getting an own goal for example. It’s a good win for us.”

Notes and statistics provided by FC Dallas Communications

Posted by Erin