Between April and July there was a common theme surrounding FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium: they couldn’t figure out how to win in front of their own fans. Following a win over Sporting Kansas City in late March, FC Dallas piled up several losses including ones against Houston, San Jose, San Diego and Minnesota.
It wasn’t until a 3-0 win over St. Louis that snapped the winless streak at Toyota Stadium in mid-July that turned things around. Manager Eric Quill changed up his formation and his club has started to make Toyota Stadium a Fortress again as his club has now gone unbeaten in their last five games, including three unbeaten at Toyota Stadium.
The team is still battling it out for a playoff spot, with one point separating them and ninth place San Jose. As the Colorado Rapids come into town, both players and coaches know that every point matters.
"It is a huge game, last week was a big one but this one may be even bigger," said defender Shaq Moore. "We want to put all of our energy into this weekend because a win will put us into a good position."
Quill believes his team has what it takes to pick up points again this weekend at home and continue to climb in the standings.
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“I think winning breeds confidence and I think the way we went about our business (against Austin) is what I take the most gratification in," said Quill. "The biggest piece is mentality. We know our backs are up against the wall and Colorado is going to be the same monster."
FC Dallas hasn’t faced the Rapids since the second week of the season, where the two sides played to a wild 3-3 draw. A lot has changed for both sides, with each club transferring a big name out (Lucho Acosta for Dallas, Djordje Mihailovic for Colorado), but despite the changes, Quill knows his club has to start hot on Saturday night.
"They're in the playoff picture right now, it is a conference rival that we're close to, and we need to win," said Quill. "They're a couple of spots above us and we're chasing. And when you're chasing you have to knock people off. It is one that we have to go after this weekend."
Along with the unbeaten mark in the last five matches, FC Dallas has also had to make swaps in goal with Jacob Jackson, the club’s third string keeper, picking up the clean sheet over Austin.
Homegrown keeper Michael Collodi is expected to be back this weekend after serving his red card suspension last weekend. For Moore, no matter who is in goal right now, the veteran defender believes the team has confidence in all three keepers to get the job done right now.
"It is the work of the team, we have three good keepers and whoever is in goal we try to help them whether that is with the ball or without the ball. We give them the confidence to go out there and perform. Whoever goes out and plays we have the utmost confidence in them that they'll get the job done."
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