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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Advances to Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal Round

June 28, 2011 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas (Tuesday, June 28) - Milton Rodriguez scored a game-winner, the second goal of extra time, in the 94th minute to lift FC Dallas to a 3-2 victory over the top team in USL PRO, Orlando City SC, at Pizza Hut Park Tuesday night.

The win pushes 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.

Orlando City SC started off strong, taking a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute, when Neal Lewis came free on the left flank and floated a cross to the back post for Kevin Molino. The cross drew the attention of goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and left back Jair Benitez, but Molino avoided the defenders to direct a header back across the goalmouth to Max Griffin. With center back Ugo Ihemelu battling Griffin, the powerful forward nodded a six-yard header into the back of the net for the early lead.

After a handful of nice stops by Orlando City goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo, FC Dallas answered in the 39th minute when Ricardo Villar chipped a long pass over the top of Orlando City's defense to fellow Brazilian, Jackson. Without losing a step, Jackson brought the ball down and dribbled to the left corner of the six-yard box, where he slid a shot to the back post underneath Gallardo to knot the score 1-1.

Coming out of halftime, second half substitute Eric Alexander combined with Ruben Luna to create a scoring chance at the top right corner of the area. The play resulted in a foul on Brek Shea at the same position on the field, which Villar opted to strike, high to the far post over Gallardo's head. Villar judged the trajectory perfectly. His shot fit just under the crossbar and caught the far side netting to give Dallas a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute.

Orlando City continued to press as the minutes wore thin, seeing a great chance to equalize, a volley off the foot of Yordany Alvarez, just miss the same right post in the 84th minute. Alvarez was robbed again, this time by Kevin Hartman in the 91st, but he was not deterred. Alvarez gained position at the top of the box in the 93rd minute and showed no hesitation in volleying a hard, dipping shot over the head of Hartman to tie the score 2-2.

With a few seconds of stoppage-time remaining, FC Dallas worked the ball down the field to the right flank where Jackson fed a perfect cross in to the top of the six-yard box. There, Rodriguez rose above a pack of defenders to redirect a snap header on goal. Gallardo got his left hand on the hard shot, but could not keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Attendance: 1,876

Scoring Summary:

ORL - Max Griffin (Kevin Molino, Lewis Neal) 24

DAL - Jackson (Ricardo Villar) 39

DAL - Ricardo Villar 50

ORL - Yordany Alvarez 90+

DAL - Milton Rodriguez 90+

Misconduct Summary:

ORL - Jerome Mechack (caution; reckless foul) 59

ORL - Max Griffin (caution; reckless foul) 61

ORL - Jack Traynor (caution; reckless foul) 68

ORL -Jamie Watson (caution; tactical foul) 72

FC Dallas - Kevin Hartman, Zach Loyd (Bruno Guarda 68), Ugo Ihemelu, Andrew Wiedeman, Jair Benitez, Bobby Warshaw, Andrew Jacobson (Eric Alexander 46), Ricardo Villar, Jackson, Brek Shea, Ruben Luna (Milton Rodriguez 52).

Substitutes Not Used: Chris Seitz, Moises Hernandez, Peri Marosevic, Victor Ulloa.

TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 10; FOULS: 6; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 7

Orlando City SC - Miguel Gallardo, Jack Traynor (Jamie Watson 69), Demar Stewart, Rob Valentino, Jerome Mechack, Erik Ustruck, Lawrence Olum, Yordany Alvarez, Lewis Neal, Max Griffin, Kevin Molino (Dennis Chin 79).

Substitutes Not Used: Sean Kelley, Luke Boden, Justin Fojo, Charlie Campbell.

TOTAL SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 15; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 3

Referee: Armando Villarreal

Referee's Assistants: Greg Boles, Jonathan Johnson

4th Official: Jorge Luna Hernandez

Weather: Fair, 95 degrees

FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman

"I think the game was what I expected. This is such a big game for (Orlando City). It's so huge for their league to play an MLS team and (possibly) beat them on the road. So, we knew how serious they were. They scored early. We came back and scored the next goal, then came back with that second goal. I think Jackson again showed a lot of spark. Then, with four minutes in extended time, they scored with about two minutes left, and I said to the players a lot of teams would have found a way to give up. You're frustrated. Your energy is down. You can't believe they scored and no one really steps up at the end. And I really thought that these guys, again, going back to that "Refuse to Lose" mentality from last year, found a way to score. I think we made it a lot harder on ourselves than we probably needed it to be, but we also took this game quite seriously. When you look at the players we had on the field, this is a very serious competition for us. Anything with our owner's name on it should be serious. I'm really happy with the boys."

FC Dallas midfielder Ricardo Villar

"I think our team played well until maybe the 75th and then we let down a little bit. We were too comfortable sitting 2-1, which is dangerous, and they made us pay for it. And then I said to Brek, we're going forward, try to get this back now because with another 30 minutes, people are cramping. For a couple of guys who don't play so often, it was tough, but we went at it and got rewarded with the goal at the end."

FC Dallas defender Ugo Ihemelu

"They're a good team. I think they're first in their league. We watched video on them and they move the ball around really well. We did well to keep possession a lot in the first half and got some opportunities that we put away. You've got to give them credit on that last goal they scored, it was a quality goal in stoppage time. After they scored that one, it's easy for you to put your head down and be like, alright, now we're going to overtime. But, it just showed the character of this team that we kept going until the last whistle, and then got great service from Jackson and Milton had the composure to put it away. It just shows our character."

Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath

"Well that was our fourth game in eight days, and in that time we have traveled 3,000 miles, so I think our players can be proud of what they have done. Certainly the effort they put in I could never fault and I thought at times we played some good futbol. Overall I am disappointed we lost the game in the way that we did. All of our players know that they can play with very good players and play against really good opposition and the one good thing is we can take some positives out of it. I keep talking about the little things and they make a big difference. The higher up you go the little things make the biggest difference and that's how we came up short tonight."

Orlando City forward Max Griffin

"I felt like I was making good runs the whole first half, putting pressure on their defenders. Lewis Neal played a good ball across and Kevin Molino got a good head on it. I made sure I was in the right spot at the right time, and fortunately for me it was a goal. I feel like we put the effort in. It was a hard fought game. We've got to put this behind us and focus on the league now. It definitely gives us the confidence that we can compete at this level. We have played these teams before and we have gotten results against a couple teams so we know we can match their level or even surpass them. It gives us a lot of confidence in our league."

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