GAME 27 – October 2, 2008

FC DALLAS 1, SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 1

Pizza Hut Park – Frisco, Texas

Scoring:

SJ -- Ryan Johnson 5 (Jason Hernandez 1) 58

DAL -- Kenny Cooper 16 (penalty kick) 89

FC DALLAS (4-4-2): Dario Sala (GK), Blake Wagner, Duilio Davino, Drew Moor, Adrian Serioux (Dominic Oduro 69), Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa (Victor Sikora 82), Bruno Guarda (Eric Avila 62), Andre Rocha, Jeff Cunningham, Kenny Cooper.

Subs Not Used: Ray Burse (GK), Bobby Rhine, Michael Dello-Russo, Aaron Pitchkolan.

Shots – 14; Shots on Goal – 4; Total Saves – 3; Fouls – 12; Offsides – 4; Corner Kicks – 7

SAN JOSE: Joe Cannon (GK), Eric Denton, Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez, James Riley, Ned Grabavoy, Ronnie O’Brien (Ryan Johnson 57), Francisco Lima, Darren Huckerby, Arturo Alvarez (Shea Salinas 71), Scott Sealy (Jovan Kirovski 89).

Subs Not Used: Mike Graczyk, Ryan Cochrane, Kelly Gray, Davide Somma.

Shots – 11; Shots on Goal – 4; Total Saves – 3; Fouls – 16; Offsides – 4; Corner Kicks – 5

Misconduct Summary:

SJ -- Ned Grabavoy (caution) 61

DAL -- Jeff Cunningham (caution) 68

DAL -- Duilio Davino (caution) 71

SJ -- Darren Huckerby (caution) 74

NOTES:

FC Dallas, riding a four game undefeated streak, is now 8-9-10 (34 pts.), two points behind second place Chivas USA and tied with Colorado and Real Salt Lake for third place in the Western Conference. Dallas has three games left, while RSL, COL, and SJ each have four games remaining.

The 10 draws are a team record, surpassing the nine ties in the 2005, 32-game season.

Dallas moves to 5-4-5 at Pizza Hut Park, and 3-6-7 versus Western Conference opponents.

This was the first time the two teams faced off in Texas since Sept. 3, 2005, when SJ won 2-0 at Pizza Hut Park. SJ returned as an expansion team this year, retaining all previous records. Dallas is 13-19-5 all-time versus SJ, including 8-8-3 at home.

FCD has scored 11 goals in the final 15 minutes of a game this year; tied with Chivas USA for second most in MLS (LA has scored 13). Of the 11 late goals, five have given the team points: three have been game-tying goals and two were game-winners. Five goals extended the lead, and one prevented a shutout.

This is the 6th time that Dallas has given up the first goal in a game and come back to earn a point; five draws and one win.

Kenny Cooper scored his 16th goal of the season, bringing him within three of league-leader Landon Donovan (19).

It was Cooper’s 31st career goal (72nd game), which ties him with Carlos Ruiz for second most in team history. Jason Kreis is the all-time team leader with 91 regular season goals, scoring his 31st in his 94th game.

The 16 goals for Cooper are the second most a Dallas player has ever scored in one season. Kreis scored 18 during the 1999 season.

FCD is 19-1-8 all-time when Cooper scores.

Duilio Davino made his first start since July 27, having missed seven games with a left toe injury…Victor Sikora made his first appearance since Aug. 3, missing the last five games while recovering from surgery on his right knee…Dax McCarty was not available with an illness.

Today’s attendance was 7,173

FCD will host Toronto FC in the final home regular season game on Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Schellas Hyndman on the game: ““(It was a) fast-paced game. I think the game was too fast. It was a beautiful night. The weather was great. Both teams knew the importance of this game, and (there were) a lot of counterattack balls on both sides, and I thought (there were) a lot of lost possession balls on both sides. It was just what you would expect two teams trying to get into the playoffs to look like. So, a very exciting game from the beginning to the end.”