Alan Velasco scored late in the first half and FC Dallas settled for a 1-1 draw Saturday night with the Colorado Rapids when a victory would have clinched a spot in the postseason.
Rafael Navarro scored his first career goal, finding the net unassisted in the 25th minute to give Colorado (5-16-12) the lead. It was Navarro's ninth career appearance — all starts.
Velasco answered with his fourth goal of the season, unassisted in the 37th minute to get Dallas (10-10-13) even.
Maarten Paes finished with four saves for Dallas. Marko Ilic saved one shot for Colorado.
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"We put in a lot of effort, the guys were aggressive and wanted to press, but we struggled with our mindset. We needed to be more patient tonight, we had a lot of turnovers tonight that we don’t usually have which helped the opponent believe they could pose a threat on the counterattack," said Head Coach Nico Estévez.
The Rapids entered play having won four of the previous five meetings with Dallas, including the last two — but all four wins were at home. Colorado is 0-5-4 in its last nine trips to Frisco.
Colorado snaps a 10-match losing streak on the road in all competitions, one shy of the club record. The Rapids were outscored 30-6 during the skid.
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TIME 4 VELASCO
After placing first in MLS’ 22 Under 22 list on Thursday, Alan Velasco scored his fourth goal of the season via a free kick opportunity which equalized the score at 1-1 the 37th minute of the match. This was Velasco’s first free kick goal of the MLS regular season. Velasco converted a free kick in a Leagues Cup Round of 16 matchup against Inter Miami CF on August 6, 2023.
UNBEATEN IN EIGHT
FC Dallas has drawn seven of its last eight matches, including the last four in a row (W1). Dallas has lost only one of its last 14 matches in all competitions (W4 D9, including two penalty-shoot-out losses). Additionally, FC Dallas' stretch of five straight draws is a new club record of consecutive draws in MLS regular season play.
NEVER GIVE UP
FC Dallas has won 19 points from losing positions in the MLS this season, more than any other team in the league.
"We are going to give it our all in Los Angeles next week," said Midfielder Alan Velasco. "We know that our season is in play next Saturday, the team knows we have to make the playoffs, so we are going to go all in on the road in Los Angeles."
UP NEXT
FC Dallas will play its final game of the regular season on Decision Day against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, October 21 from Dignity Health Sports Park. The match kicks off at 8 PM CT.
