FC Dallas. Seattle Sounders FC. Western Conference Semifinals.
For the third straight year, the two clubs will meet in the postseason beginning on Sunday evening and although Kansas City and Salt Lake City were possible destinations this weekend, you just knew it'd be Seattle.
“Just watching the game, you kind of felt like we’re going to play them again," Walker Zimmerman, the hero of last year’s Semifinal, said. "They got the best of us year one, we got the best of them year two, so now it’s about who can claim that playoff dominance.”
In 2014, it was FCD playing the Knockout Round midweek contest at home and then hosting the higher-seeded Sounders in Frisco for Leg One. 2015 saw the roles reversed, with top-seed Dallas traveling to meet a Seattle team on a quick turnaround - just as it is a year later. In both series, the higher seed has advanced in front of their home fans.
“I think we both know each other very well,” Victor Ulloa said of the budding rivalry. “We just played them a couple of weeks ago, so it’s fresh on our minds but it’s important for us to focus on the game plan that the coaches have for us so that we can execute it well and get a good result in the first leg.”
With two trophies already in-tow this season, Oscar Pareja’s side has played more meaningful games than any other MLS team in 2016. The do-or-die playoff mentality has been instilled on the club for months and for Papi, it’s that mentality that gives Dallas an advantage.
“We’re jumping from one competition to another and the importance of every match was as big as the other ones,” he said. “’It’s the Quarterfinal,’ ‘The Semifinal,’ ‘This is the one to keep us high [in the standings],’ ‘This is the one to win us the Supporters’ Shield,’ ‘We cannot lose this one’ - all the time. Now it’s no different. It’s playoff time where there is no tomorrow. You’ve got to find the answers right now. The boys are prepared to do it.”
And despite the past meetings, the season’s success or the adversity faced - Sunday begins a new chapter.
“Every game is a different story to be written. This is a different day. Tomorrow will be a different match. We can bring all the stats that we can and we can bring all the patterns here and there, but tomorrow is tomorrow. And Sunday will be Sunday. We have 90 minutes to start the series in the first leg and then hopefully we can advance [at home] as we did last year.”