Last night at Westcott Field, NCAA champions Akron came to town for an NCAA Tournament Second Round showdown against SMU. The Zips would take a 3-0 lead through a double from star Jamaican forward Darren Mattocks and withstand a furious Mustangs comeback to grab a wild 3-2 win.

On a wet, chilly night, Akron was the dominant team in the first half with Mattocks and senior Luke Holmes the main attacking threats for the Zips. Mattocks speed and touch on the ball gave the SMU defense fits in the first half and he would give his Akron side the lead midway through the first half. Seattle Sounders academy product DeAndre Yedlin got free down the right side and sent in a deep cross over the head of goalkeeper Jaime Ibarra that fell to the head of a diving Mattocks who scored easily. 

From there, SMU would push forward enjoying the run of play through the end of the first half with sophomore midfielder Zach Barnes coming closest, flicking a Robbie Dershang cross over the bar from close range. SMU would bring on their star sophomore forward Juan Castillo midway through the first half as well which opened up some room for Arthur Ivo and the Mustang attack.

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Ruben Luna continued his recent hot streak, scoring his MLS Reserve League Leading 6th goal of the season while Bobby Warshaw scored the game-winner as FC Dallas Reserves downed Sporting KC 2-1 Wednesday morning on the adidas Field at Pizza Hut Park. 

Sporting KC enjoyed the run of play early, but it was FCD who took the lead. A long cross-field ball was brought down by left back Moises Hernandez who fought for the ball with SKC left back Kevin Ellis. The ball squirted free to Bryan Leyva on the left side who sent in a pinpoint cross to Luna who rose to head home past Eric Kronberg in goal for Kansas City. The goal put Luna all alone atop the Reserve League scoring charts with 6 goals in 8 games. It's also the third MLS Reserve League game he's scored in.

Soon after, Dallas doubled their lead just a few minutes after with Bobby Warshaw dispossessing Sporting midfielder Craig Rocastle, taking a few dribbles forward and unleashing a low, curling shot to Kronberg's right that found the back of the net. Warshaw was the vocal leader in defensive midfield for Dallas the entire morning. 

Sporting cut the lead in half with a headed from trialist Nick Cardenas off a Milos Stojcev corner and it was as much as SKC deserved after holding most of the possession for the half. 

The second half was a fairly wide open game with both teams getting a ton of scoring chances but the heroics of Chris Seitz and Eric Kronberg would keep both teams off the board and see the game end 2-1 to FC Dallas. FCD finishes the Reserve League season at 5-4 while forward Ruben Luna ends the season atop the scoring charts with 6 goals. 

Thoughts on the game including a post-game chat with Luna, who impressed and how the trialists looked after the jump

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This morning up at PHP, the FCD reserves took on Chicago losing 3-2. I didn't make the match, but there's a few interesting notes to take away from this one. The full FCD press release after the jump, but take a look at the lineups and you'll see it was a very strong Chicago XI.

Scoring Summary:
CHI - Diego Chaves (penalty kick) 25
CHI -  Diego Chaves 27
DAL – Bryan Leyva (Jair Benitez) 31
CHI – Orr Barouch (Kellen Gulley) 69
DAL – Daniel Garcia (Andrew Wiedeman) 85

 

FC Dallas Reserves – Chris Seitz (Josh Lambo 62), Zach Loyd (Bobby Warshaw 46), David Rodriguez, Christian Ibeaga, Moises Hernandez, Victor Ulloa, Bryan Leyva, Lance Dempsey (*Daniel Garcia 53), Jair Benitez (Andrew Wiedeman 46), Maicon Santos (Ruben Luna 46), Jonathan Top.

Substitutes not used: *Kellyn Acosta, Richard Sanchez.

* = FC Dallas Academy player

Chicago Fire Reserves – Jon Conway, *Francisco Mendoza (Pari Pantazopolous 46), Yamith Cuesta, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Dan Gargan, Daniel Paladini, Orr Barouch, Baggio Husidic, Mike Videira (Corben Bone 62), Diego Chaves (Kellen Gulley 58), Cristian Nazarit (Victor Pineda 53).

Substitutes not used: Alec Duffy.

Jump for a few thoughts and the full press release

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Two weeks in a row that FC Dallas has now put in a complete performance from start to finish and has gotten the all important three points. Dallas got goals for the forth straight game from Jackson Goncalves (including the USOC game) and for the third straight game from Brek Shea in the 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew Saturday night. 

The win pushes Dallas up the standings and back into second place with 34 points, just one behind the league leaders the Los Angeles Galaxy. The win was also the 10th of the season for Dallas, the first MLS club to do so this season.

Shea's goal was his eighth, which puts him in a tie for the Golden Boot standings with LA's Landon Donovan, New York's Thierry Henry and DC's Charlie Davies. Not bad company for Shea.

(Read on for thoughts, video and stats)

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That very well could have been the wackiest final minutes of play in Pizza Hut Park history. Two goals in the final seconds saw Orlando City SC tie the game then to only lose it when Milton Rodriguez headed home the game winner for FC Dallas.

The win advances FC Dallas into a July 12, U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal matchup against MLS rival Real Salt Lake. Pizza Hut Park will also play host to that match, which is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. CT.

It was a back and forth game that saw Orlando score early. Dallas battled back with a goal from Jackson Goncalves and then a go-ahead goal from RIcardo Villar. But it was Rodriguez that ended up with the late game winner in the 94th minute.

(Read on for quotes, stats and more)   

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After two fairly lousy efforts for FC Dallas it appears the team is back in the normal flow of things. Dallas possibly put together the most complete performance of the season against the Portland Timbers as they rout the expansion club 4-0 on Saturday night. Two goals late in the first half followed by two more in the second half were definitely enough for the three points.

Goals came from all over as two defenders scored off corner kicks, Zach Loyd and George John cashed in as Daniel Hernandez stepped up and took corners for the first time all season. That move paid off in a big way. The other two goals came in the run of play from Brek Shea and Jackson Goncalves. 

The defense stepped up to stop one of the best set piece-taking teams in the league while the offense came alive thanks for a switch back to the old 4-1-4-1 with the absence of Fabian Castillo. Jackson had possibly his best game in a Dallas uniform as he set up the last two goals, scoring the forth and final goal of the game. 

(read on for more thoughts, videos and stats)

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After a while it began to look like one of those nights that nothing would go in for FC Dallas. Shot after shot either went over, wide or right at New England Revolution keeper Matt Reis. That was until Marvin Chavez came into the picture midway through the second half. 

Chavez took a ball from Fabian Castillo in the 68th minute and races down the wing and up the touchline to beat Reis near post for the games lone goal. It was Chavez's first of the year and first regular season goal since last October. 

The win was special for another reason though too. The 1-0 shutout also marked the 100th shutout for keeper Kevin Hartman. The veteran continues to lead the all-time MLS mark for shutouts and has become the first in league history to pass the century mark. It was the seventh shutout of the 2011 season for Hartman as well.

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FC Dallas had the lead, had the man advantage but in the end couldn't keep the lead as the Houston Dynamo battled back late to get the draw, 2-2 Saturday night at Robertson Stadium in the first leg of the Texas Derby. Andrew Jacobson and Ugo Ihemelu both got on the board for Dallas tonight but late goals in both halves by Houston kept the game level.

Dallas made one change to start the match tonight as Bobby Warshaw made his first career start in place of George John, who picked up a groin injury in Seattle and was kept out of this game. 

While the result feels disappointing it did however keep Dallas unbeaten in the month of May and helped FCD stay second in the standings with 22 points. Not a bad place to be after 13 games.

(Read on for more thoughts)

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