Vancouver, BC – Two Western Conference rivals clash for the second consecutive week as league-leading FC Dallas battles the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday at BC Place.
Last week, FC Dallas posted a 2-0 win over the Whitecaps behind and own goal from Vancouver defender Brad Rusin and a tally from Blas Perez in the 50th minute.
With the three points, long-time FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman passed Dave Dir for the most points by a coach in franchise history with 219. Hyndman's all-time record stands at 57-48-48 after becoming the club's coach in 2008.
"It's obviously huge," said club vice president Dan Hunt of Hyndman's accomplishment. "He continues to win and continues to get results. I'm excited for Schellas, it's a huge honor for a guy who has had a lot of success everywhere he goes and this is a unique team that can probably get him a lot more points. It's a very special night for us all."
"It's not been an easy road," said Hyndman. "We put a lot into it; myself, the staff and the players. Nobody gets any awards in this environment without the players. And this recognition goes back to our first game that we ever played in."
After a bit of bad luck put the Whitecaps in an early hole against Dallas last week, they bad the better of the play for the majority of the first half.
But after the intermission, it was another unfortunate bounce in the 50th minute that wrapped it up when a cross from the right flank deflected off the leg of a Vancouver defender and went right to the head of Perez, who easily nodded it past Joe Cannon.
Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie was less than pleased with his team's performance in Texas.
"I think we were poor tonight. I think it was one of the first games this season I could really say that. We've been performing well, playing well, but tonight wasn't a good night for us and on top of that I think FC Dallas played very well, they're on a good run right now and they took advantage of our poor play."
The Whitecaps, however, head into Saturday's tilt riding some positive momentum after posting a 3-2 win over FC Edmonton in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal.
Camilo scored twice, including an 82-minute penalty kick to put the sides on level terms before substitute Tommy Heinemann netted the winner in the 88th minute.
"I'm very happy that we came out with the win but certainly it was a tough game and credit to Edmonton. I thought they played very well tonight," said Rennie. "It's a good win for us and it puts us in a good position going into next week."
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