FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas became the inaugural winners of the preseason tournament "La Copita" by defeating Houston Dynamo FC 3-0 Saturday evening at BBVA Stadium.
La Copita (also known as The Best Little Cup in Texas) is a preseason competition to crown the best team in Texas between FC Dallas, Houston, Austin FC and San Antonio FC. Dallas finished on 8 points in the tournament standings after registering a 5-0 win over San Antonio, a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Austin and today's 3-0 victory over Houston.
Dallas' impressive performance in Houston was highlighted with goals from Franco Jara, Ryan Hollingshead and the returning Jesús Ferreira. Jara opened the scoring in the 37th minute with an opportunistic left-footed volley from outside the box that nestled into the bottom corner.
Just four minutes later, Hollingshead doubled the lead with a tap-in after an outrageous through-ball from Andrés Ricaurte that split four Houston defenders on the edge of their own box.
Ferreira, who only returned from international duty with the USMNT earlier this week, rounded out the scoring late on with a calm finish into the side netting following a giveaway at the back.
Over the three tournament games, Dallas scored 11 goals and conceded just three (two of them being penalties awarded for Austin FC). Their strong performances will give Luchi Gonzalez's men confidence ahead of the club's MLS home opener next Saturday, April 17 against Colorado Rapids at Toyota Stadium.
