FRISCO — May was a month to forget for FC Dallas.
After accumulating 19 points from the first nine matches of the season, FCD saw itself in a six-game slump, losing four and drawing two in that period. Different players were unavailable due to injury or international duty, but the team stayed persistent and didn’t shy away from the style of play or tactics it wants to execute every week.
FC Dallas bounced back in a big way Saturday night, defeating Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 and holding off a late surge from the visitors. It snapped the skid the team was in, and with the win came renewed confidence.
“We’re focused on the end goal, the picture, and what we have in mind,” Ryan Hollingshead said. “The team has been very together and solidified. We’re doing these things together, working on a ton of new tactics, trying to play a different style of soccer than we’ve played the last couple of years. So, part of that is just a learning curve. Part of that is we’re going to give up some games to do that.”
Still, Hollingshead said the team isn’t content with the win, and the rest of the players in the dressing room are still hungry for more.
“We’re obviously happy with the victory, but we’re still wanting to work and fix [some] things,” Hollingshead said. “And we want to be a team that puts other teams away 3, 4-0 when we can, and I feel like tonight was one of those nights where we could’ve done that.”
After entering the halftime break with a 2-0 lead, FCD stayed persistent for the rest of the match with an aggressive style. Even when Seattle’s Raúl Ruidíaz scored in the 65th minute, Dallas didn’t flinch.
The team created multiple dangerous chances later on, and it withstood a late Seattle surge within the last 10 minutes to hold on to the win and secure all three points — the winless streak was no more.
“It feels amazing,” Dominique Badji said. “Winning is a feeling that, it’s unbelievable and we want to replicate that every weekend. So, it’s nice that we got a win under our belts now, and we’re looking forward from now on. We don’t want to drop any more points. We want to keep winning as many games as we can.”
