FRISCO - It’s a tough pill to swallow missing out on the postseason based on a stoppage-time goal in another game besides your own, but it’s a position FC Dallas knows they put themselves in heading into Decision Day.
Dallas entered the day needing a win and San Jose to draw or lose to Minnesota. They handled business at home, overcoming an early goal against en route to a 5-1 thrashing of the LA Galaxy - the second most goals FCD put up in a single game all season. But it was a game-winner from Marco Urena that put the Earthquakes through and sent FC Dallas home.
“It was a good representation of this season for us,” Oscar Pareja said. “Probably one of our best this season, but we came up short due to what happened throughout the season. We have to take our responsibility, especially myself as a leader, as a coach. This one game was a great performance. Unfortunately for us, San Jose scored a late goal.”
“It's disappointing, we did everything we could today to try to get it, but unfortunately this is a result of not being able to take care of business in a couple of games,” defender Walker Zimmerman said. “That's what happens in this league. It's tight. It's close. It comes down to a couple of minutes and a couple of plays and we just didn't get the job done.”
After a second-half collapse that saw the club go from atop the West to out of the postseason, it’s going to be a long offseason with a lot to reflect on for the players and staff before 2018.
“We have had four seasons with this group. We have to sit down and evaluate. It’s a cycle that needs to be reviewed. There are things that need to change,” Pareja said of the upcoming offseason. “The project is going to move forward. This year has been difficult. We’ll keep training. It’s early. They’re a group of professionals that need to get ready for what is coming. They’re a young group…I have to be honest. I didn’t plan on this.”
