CHAPTER 1 CHASING THE SHIELD FC Dallas fans had little to complain about in 2015. The Major League Soccer MLS team won 18 games in the regular season one shy of the franchise record Those 18 wins plus six draws added up to 60 points That was also a record for FC Dallas No other MLS club earned more points that year But the Toros as FC Dallas is commonly called were matched atop the standings by the New York Red Bulls And New York's goal differential of plus 19 topped the Toros plus 13 differential That meant the Red Bulls won the MLS Supporters Shield That trophy is given each year to the team with the best regular season record Still the Toros hoped to make their mark in the playoffs With New York in the Eastern Conference Dallas held the FC Dallas players celebrate a playoff victory over Seattle in 2015 4
Michael Barrios center celebrates one of his goals against DC United as Aaron Guillen left and Maxi Urruti look on top seed in the West The Toros met the fourth seeded Seattle Sounders in the conference semifinals Each team would host one game And each won its home game 2 1 That meant a penalty kick shootout would decide which team advanced When 22 year old defender Walker Zimmerman converted his chance the Toros had the victory 6
The Toros lost to the Portland Timbers by an aggregate score of 5 3 in the Western Conference finals But the 2015 season was one of the most successful in team history With that foundation in place the team had high hopes going into the 2016 season STARTING STRONG Dallas fielded one of the deepest rosters in team history that year The Toros played especially well early in the season They won three out of their first four matches outscoring opponents 7 0 in the victories Argentine striker Maxi Urruti scored three of those goals Colombian winger Michael Barrios scored twice in a 3 0 win at DC United That victory was a statement to the rest of the league The Toros matched up well with some of the better teams in MLS After three straight road losses FC Dallas went on a tear starting in mid May They posted six wins and two draws in their next nine matches And while the team's offense was inconsistent the Toros played tough defense all season Defender Matt Hedges and goalkeeper Chris Seitz were the backbone of the league's fourth best defense FC Dallas gave up an average of only 1.2 goals per match in 2016 7
