FRISCO, Texas (Saturday, July 4) – FC Dallas played to a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC in front of 21,508 fans at FC Dallas Stadium Wednesday night. Veteran goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made three saves in his milestone and MLS record 400th career match.     

Thumbnail photo is courtesy of FC Dallas

FC Dallas got on the board in just the fifth minute of play following a corner kick taken by captain Daniel Hernandez. Toronto FC cleared the cross out to the top of the area, but Jackson was there to claim the loose ball and send it back into the mix. Near the top right corner of the six-yard box, Andrew Jacobson rose above his marker to redirect a header back into the goalmouth. There, right back Zach Loyd sent a diving header past Toronto FC goalkeeper Milos Kocic to give Dallas a 1-0 lead.

Toronto FC pulled a goal back in the 31st minute when former FC Dallas midfielder Eric Avila collected a clearance attempt at the top left corner of the box. Avila made a sharp cut past his defender before delivering a cross to the front post, where forward Danny Koevermans slipped inside goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s near post.

Dallas fought back immediately, getting the ball out wide to Fabian Castillo. The speedy Colombian cut inside his defender and ripped a shot towards the far post. Kocic was there to make a spectacular left-handed save, knocking the shot upwards and off the crossbar, to keep the match tied 1-1 headed into halftime.

FC Dallas got a long awaited boost in the 57th minute, when 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira made his return to the pitch for the first time in 45 matches after suffering a broken ankle against the Vancouver Whitecaps on April 23, 2011.

The former MVP made one of this signature cutting passes in the 60th minute when he picked out Brek Shea inside the area. Shea cut towards the top of the six-yard box and fired a right-footed shot, but Toronto FC defender Logan Emory caught the forward from behind and made a sliding tackle to send the ball over the end line and out for one of Dallas’ eight corner kicks on the evening.

Toronto FC’s best opportunity to score came via corner kick in the 84th minute. Torsten Frings picked out Koevermans inside the area and the 6-3 striker would have had his second goal of the match if not for Hartman, who made a diving save, high to his left side to keep Koevermans’ header out of the back of the net.

Dallas returns to action this Saturday when it faces the league-leading San Jose Earthquakes at FC Dallas Stadium. That match is set to begin at 8 p.m. CT.     

Scoring Summary:
DAL – Zach Loyd (Andrew Jacobson, Jackson) 5
TOR – Danny Koevermans (Eric Avila) 31

FC Dallas – Kevin Hartman, Carlos Rodriguez, Matt Hedges, Hernan Pertuz, Zach Loyd, Fabian Castillo (Andrew Wiedeman 90), Andrew Jacobson, James Marcelin, Daniel Hernandez (David Ferreira 57), Jackson, Brek Shea.

Substitutes Not Used: Chris Seitz, Bryan Leyva, Scott Sealy, Victor Ulloa, Ricardo Villar.

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Fabian Castillo 3, Andrew Jacobsen 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Zak Loyd 1, James Marcelin 1, Fabian Castillo 1); FOULS: 14 (Andrew Jacobson 4); OFFSIDES: 3 (Brek Shea 2, Andrew Jacobson 1); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Daniel Hernandez 6); SAVES: 3 (Kevin Hartman 3).

Toronto FC – Milos Kocic, Jeremy Hall, Richard Eckersley, Logan Emory, Ashtone Morgan, Reggie Lambe, Torsten Frings, Terry Dunfield (Julian de Guzman 81), Eric Avila (Luis Silva 68), Ryan Johnson, Danny Kovermans (Nick Soolsma 88).

Substitutes Not Used: Quillan Roberts, Miguel Aceval, Aaron Maund, Matt Stinson.

TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Danny Koevermans 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Danny Koevermans 3, Eric Avila 1); FOULS: 12 (Ryan Johnson 2, Torsten Frings 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2 (Torsten Frings 2); SAVES: 2 (Milos Kocic 2).

Misconduct Summary:
TOR – Richard Eckersley (caution) 37
TOR – Ryan Johnson (caution) 43
TOR – Torsten Frings (caution) 79

Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Referee’s Assistants: Ian Anderson, Anthony Vasoli
4th Official: Kevin Terry Jr.
Attendance: 21,508
Time of Game: 1:54

Weather: Clear, 95 degrees

FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman
General thoughts on the match:

We really started off well. We put a lot of pressure on them early. Zach [Loyd] scored a great goal, a very courageous goal. We created a couple more opportunities we were not able to finish. They came back and scored. It was a poor initial clearance by us and that put us right back into trouble. They worked awfully hard to get that goal. It was a difficult game because it really took a lot out of both teams. It was so wide open. They got a lot of crosses in the run of play that always causes you problems whether you win the ball or don’t win the ball or you have to fight for that second ball and I thought they were very good at that. You can see a different team out there playing than what we’ve seen for the last year and a half with Toronto. For us I thought we gave everything we possibly had in the game. I said to the players after the game, there’s no reason to hang your head. You gave everything you had. It’s not what we wanted, but it wasn’t through a lack of effort on their part.

On the Toronto goal:
A big thing is the first mistake was made trying to trap the ball at the top of the box with the chest and it bounced loose. The way we play, we really do open ourselves up and if there is a mistake, it usually ends up being a great scoring opportunity for them.

On David Ferreira’s return to the field:
Great to have him back. There was excitement from our players to see him on the field. He was excited. He worked awfully hard. We were hoping to go 20 minutes with him, but it felt like we needed a change earlier. He was creating a lot of opportunities for players. He was giving a lot of penetrating balls that were causing a lot of problems. That’s what we’ve been missing. Ricardo Villar tried to do it until he got hurt, but we don’t have anyone else on the team besides Villar who can do what he does, so it’s great to have him back.

On Kevin Hartman’s 400th career MLS game:
As I said to the players just before we went out onto the field, we wanted to congratulate him. I don’t know how many players knew this was his 400th game or that he had the honor of scarfing the Lamar Hunt statue tonight. Everybody was as excited as the coaching staff. It really is hard to think about 400 games. It speaks a lot about his determination, how hard he works, how good he is and then the competitiveness in him. It’s fanatastic. I don’t  know if there’s going to be another player who comes along and does that. Maybe if it’s one of the Generation adidas players, the young players, but I think it’s going to be a while before somebody else hits 400.

FC Dallas defender Zach Loyd
General thoughts on the match…
We started off well. The goal came off a set piece. Jackson got the second ball and I saw Andrew Jacobson making a run at it on the back post so I positioned myself in the middle of the area to make a play. [Jacobson] did a great job of putting it back across. I was able to get on the end of it and scored the goal. It was a great start, unfortunately we didn’t come away with the three points. The good thing is we have a quick turnaround, playing San Jose on Saturday. Hopefully we can get a result here at home.

How do you feel the team preformed tonight?
I feel comfortable with our performance, we came out strong, we had great chances. In the first half we played really well. Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes in the back that cost us a goal.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman
On reaching the 400 games played milestone:
It’s obviously a very big accomplishment for me. As a kid I always wanted to play professional soccer, so to play 400 league games is something that means a lot to me. It's something I relish, getting to learn the lessons I’ve learned and traveled to the places I’ve been able to travel. It’s something I hold dear.

On the result:
It’s disappointing, considering the number of people that came out and supported us. The fact that we were able to score an early goal... We played quality soccer. We just didn’t have enough left in the tank towards the end of the game and they continued to push.

FC Dallas midfeidler David Ferreira
On suffering his first foul after being out for so long:
When I step on the field, I try to forget about what happened the last time I was out there. When I was fouled tonight, I stood up calm. I thanked God nothing happened. I always try not to remember what happened. I try to get on the field with the mentality of doing things right and helping out the team.  Unfortunately tonight, we couldn’t get the three points because the team in front of us was a very hard team to break down.

On coming back from injury:
The hard work from coming back from my injuries finally paid dividends since I was able to come back onto the field. I want to continue to work and to continue to contribute to the team. I’m looking forward to Saturday and to getting the result we were looking for here tonight. The excitement of being able to come back in and contribute made me very happy, but of course there’s something there that doesn’t allow me to be as excited as I would want to be because we didn’t get the result.

Toronto FC Head Coach Paul Mariner

General thoughts on the game:
I'm really, really pleased to see David [Ferreira] back. He's a very special player in this league, and nobody wants to see great players away from their team. Talking about my team, I can't speak highly enough for my boys. All we've been through the past few weeks, with the travel and schedule, it's almost physically impossible. What they did tonight, taking the game from Dallas in the second half and later stages of the game, they could have nicked it late. We didn't have the greatest start with the poor goal we gave away, but we fought back well with a pretty even first half. I'm struggling to find what Dallas did to us in the second half, but I'm delighted with what we did. 

On how the team has recently turned around:
Players. Players in comfort zones, players understanding what they're doing, knowing their role and knowing their job. The beauty about it is everybody knows what your job is, and if you don't do it, you get told. It's football.

On Danny Koevermans' performance:
It's hard to talk about Danny without talking about Torsten [Frings] because it was obviously instrumental in bringing them both to the club. They are the epitome of professionalism. He's got a ridiculous eye for goal and a knack for getting on the end of things. You can see the work he does on the ball and off the ball. He's a special player. He's a goalscorer. With a lot of young players, they try and smash it into the back of the net, but Danny just guides it over the line. That's a goalscorer. It doesn't matter if the net bulges, it just matters if you can get it over the line. 

On the success of the defense and Richard left back Richard Eckersley:
It's just got to do with the back four. He reads the game very well for such a young player, and I'm struggling to find a better left back in the league at the moment. The defense bodes well for the future. We played tonight against a very explosive forward line. Whichever way you slice it with [Fabian] Castillo and Brek [Shea], there's a lot of firepower. We fought them very well.

Toronto FC Forward Danny Koevermans
On his recent goal-scoring streak and the team's turnaround:
If you call it a hot streak, scoring in five straight games, then I hope I can do it in six and make it a hotter streak. Of course, it feels good. Especially on the road, it's so difficult to get some points on the road in this league. Every point we can take on the road, we're happy. Every team is hard to beat, and Dallas showed some good quality. We're just happy with the point.

On how he felt about the result of the game:
It's a good result. FC Dallas were ahead one-nil, but we fought back. They had some chances, and we had a good block from [Richard] Eckersley on the shot from Shea. We had some chances as well, but it was a good game. 

On his goal in the first half:
Every time you get a goal on the board, it's a nice feeling. We took a point with us, so it's perfect. Eric [Avila] put the ball in and [Kevin] Hartman thought he was going to grab it, but I put my little toe against the ball and it went in the net. It was perfect. It doesn't matter how you score. If you can put your feet, or your head or your nose on the ball and in the net, it's a goal. I don't mind how I score or how the team scores, as long we score it's fine with me. 

Toronto FC Midfielder Eric Avila

On seeing his former teammates:
I went and hung out with Brek [Shea] and a few of the other guys. It was good to see them and see some old teammates that I played with for a while. 

On his role in Danny Koevermans' goal:
I was thinking about shooting, but then I saw Danny. It was good, I cut it inside and saw Danny and he was able to get it in. 
On what Paul Mariner calls the team's "bag of tricks."
It's always fun to watch all of that. It's fun to be all that, but just getting the job done is the most important.

Tags: FC Dallas, MLS - Major League Soccer, Toronto FC