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Shea leads Dallas into clash with RSL

Jul 8, 2011 - 5:10 PM Sandy, UT (Sports Network) - FC Dallas was a finalist in the MLS Cup last season, so the fact that the Hoops find themselves near the top of the Western Conference table shouldn't be a surprise as they get set to visit Real Salt Lake on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Schellas Hyndman's team has won its last three games and four of its last five to become the first team in MLS to reach 10 wins on the season, but what is surprising is that this has been accomplished for the most part without last season's most valuable player, David Ferreira.

Ferreira suffered a serious leg injury in Dallas' sixth game of the season against Vancouver Whitecaps FC, but the club has managed to go 8-1-3 since he went down, with a lot of the credit belonging to Brek Shea.

Shea began the season as a center back because of injury issues in the Dallas defense, but he has been moved up to play on the left side of midfield and flourished, scoring eight goals so far this season, including one in each of the past four games.

"The better you play, the more confidence you get," Shea said after Dallas' latest win, a 2-0 triumph over the Columbus Crew. "You just get on a roll. I am just on a good roll right now."

Hyndman added a little more when discussing what Shea has meant to the team so far.

"Think about him being the team's leading scorer despite how many games he played at left back and center back before we got ourselves healthy," Hyndman contemplated. "It is not just the goals he scores, he gets some good balls and he keeps the defense under a lot of pressure."

Salt Lake had its key playmaker in midfield, Javier Morales, also go down to a devastating injury early in the season. But despite the fact that RSL is riding a five-game unbeaten streak, the club has been held to draws in four of those matches and needs to start collecting three points at a time.

RSL had been busy competing in the CONCACAF Champions League earlier this season while also losing a number of players to Gold Cup duty recently.

But through all the injuries and absences, Jason Kreis' team has remained tough to beat, with RSL losing just three of its first 16 matches.

The latest result was a wild 3-3 draw against the New England Revolution in a match that saw Salt Lake defender Nat Borchers sent off after just two minutes.

The Revs took a two-goal lead after 16 minutes of play and were up a man, but Kreis was extremely pleased with how well his team battled back to claim a point.

"My take away from the match is that I'm really, really proud of our guys," Kreis said. "To get to 2-2 and then have another disappointing decision and a free kick goal scored off of that, and then fight back again to get to 3-3 is a huge credit to our group."

Borchers will miss Saturday's match through suspension, but Salt Lake has made a habit out of getting by with whomever is in the lineup.