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FCD tries to continue momentum against reeling Rapids

Oct 17, 2014 - 7:14 PM Commerce City, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - FC Dallas continues its push to finish in the top three on Saturday as the club travels to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to tangle with the Colorado Rapids.

Dallas clinched a spot in the Western Conference playoffs last weekend with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy, and with the team sitting just one point back of third-place Real Salt Lake, Oscar Pareja's team would like to keep that momentum going to finish third, avoiding the knockout-round match.

Stefan Ishizaki scored in the first half to put the Galaxy ahead at the break, but Dallas rallied over the second 45 minutes and the Hoops equalized through David Texeira before Fabian Castillo came through with the winning goal three minutes from time.

FCD returns to the postseason after missing the playoffs the past two years, and although Pareja is pleased at the achievement, he knows there is still work to be done.

"It feels great. This is home...My commitment was to bring the playoffs back this year and we're here," said Pareja, who is in his first season in charge of Dallas. "I feel great, but the job is not done yet. There are a lot of things to work on and I really think we can qualify third and fight for that spot and have a long run in the playoffs."

At this point in the season, the Rapids would like to just get a win to close out the campaign with the team bringing a 12-game winless streak into Saturday's contest.

Colorado's last victory came July 25 against Chivas, and with the Rapids playing a pair of playoff contenders in Dallas and Vancouver over the final two matches, three points is certainly not a given the rest of the way.

Last weekend's meeting with Chivas figured to be the best chance at breaking that winless skid for the Rapids, and the team even went up 1-0 in the 30th minute through John Neeskens.

However, Colorado failed to hold up defensively and allowed two goals over the final 25 minutes, with Kristopher Tyrpak tying the match for Chivas before Felix Borja delivered the winner in the 85th.

The result leaves the Rapids with just two points from their last 12 games, and Mastroeni was once again left to wonder about his team's defensive ability.

"Again, I think our trouble isn't so much scoring goals but being better defensively," Mastroeni said after the loss. "I think for the better part of this game, we were a better defensive team than we've been in a long time. Unfortunately, not capitalizing on our opportunities and not defending well enough in those moments costs us the game."

The Rapids have now given up two or more goals in six of their last eight matches, and the team will be without defender Thomas Piermayr for the final two matches after he sustained a sprained MCL in the loss to Chivas.