It was a good weekend for FC Dallas, without a doubt. Oscar Pareja's side earned a full six points from two matches this week clinching the #1 seed in the Western Conference and a CONCACAF Champions League spot for 2016-2017 in the process. But the regular season party isn't over yet! Let's take a look at what's at stake heading into the first-ever MLS Decision Day.
In terms of the Supporters' Shield this is all you need to know. The trophy given to the top team in MLS after the regular season will go to either FC Dallas or the New York Red Bulls who are tied at 17-10-6 after 33 matches.
Unfortunately for FC Dallas, the Red Bulls hold the tiebreaker over FC Dallas as the teams will finish tied in the first tiebreaker, wins, and New York holds a six-goal differential lead over FCD, a pretty insurmountable distance.
So FCD needs New York to draw or lose at Chicago to hold the Supporters' Shield destiny in their own hands in Sunday's season finale vs San Jose. However, there is certainly reason for hope as New York lost their previous match at Chicago this year and didn't win there in 2013 either.
So at 6:00PM on Sunday, we will know whether FCD's match at San Jose is one of the biggest in regular season club history or whether there's only pride on the line.
Turning our eyes to the Western Conference. FC Dallas obviously can't be caught at the top. They know they will be playing on Sunday, November 1st and Sunday, November 8th in the Western Conference semifinals.
What they don't know is any idea of who they will be playing. As you can see, it's seven teams for six spots and the seeding scenarios are all over the place. The Galaxy, for instance, could finish as low as sixth and as high as second. That goes for pretty much every other team as well except for San Jose.
All you need to know is FC Dallas will play the lowest remaining seed from the #3 vs #6 and #4 vs #5 wild card round matches mid-week following Decision Day matches on Sunday. Who would you rather FC Dallas face? Well that's up to you, but right now pretty much any of the six teams in the standings below FCD could be our opponent in about a week's time. What is certainly set in stone is that the decisive second leg of the playoff series' will be held at Toyota Stadium where Dallas is 12-2-2 this season.
Schedule
We do know the schedule, but not times just yet, of when FCD's playoff games will be:
Western Conference Semifinal Leg 1 [Away leg] - Sunday, November 1st
Western Conference Semifinal Leg 2 [Home leg] - Sunday, November 8th
Western Conference Final Leg 1 [Away leg] - Sunday, November 22nd
Western Conference Final Leg 2 [Home leg] - Sunday, November 29th
MLS Cup - Sunday, December 6th
