In 2006, the Saturn Cup was played at a high school stadium in Moore, Oklahoma. FC Dallas fielded a squad of reserves who were used and abused by Kansas City’s starters, and Dallas were forced to retreat home with a 1-0 loss under their belts. Thankfully, 2007 is a new year and on Saturday night FC Dallas took the Saturn Cup seriously. Played at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, most of the names in the starting lineup for the Saturn Cup were recognizable as the first eleven was comprised of mostly first-teamers. While the first half was sloppy, and the second half saw Dallas take and lose the lead twice in a span of ten minutes, Dallas came out victorious in the end after a hard fought match ending in a Dominic Oduro breakaway.

The beginning of the match looked like a continuation of the Pioneer Cup against Columbus. Dallas looked disorganized, passes were difficult to connect and players were hesitant to be aggressive and go after the ball. Chicago capitalized off of this apprehension and struck first in the 11th minute. Chad Barrett received the ball and dribbled along the left corner of the box with Clarence Goodson marking him. Instead of making a move for the ball, Goodson tracked Barret all the way into the box until it was too late. Barret caught Shaka Hislop out of position and hit a shot from the left that buried itself in the right corner of the net.

About twenty minutes would pass by before Dallas would even up the score. Midfielder Richard Mulrooney took a short corner kick to Ramon Nunez. Nunez sent it back to Mulrooney who then crossed it in to forward Kenny Cooper. Cooper stood at the top of the box swarmed by defenders. He made an effort for the ball, but it ended up bouncing on the ground and right over his head. Luckily, defender Clarence Goodson found himself in the right place at the right time and banged in the rebound to make the score 1-1.

The FC Dallas who took the field in the first half were completely different from the FC Dallas who took it in the second. It took a minute or two, but Dallas worked their way back to sharp combination play, communication and actual opportunities to score. Their first chance resulted in a goal when Arturo Alvarez sent the ball from the left to Nunez on the right. In the 50th minute, Nunez sent the ball to Ruiz in the middle of the box. With his back to a defender, Ruiz spun in a circle, moved the ball to the right and slotted a shot to the far corner of the net.

The five minutes after Dallas’ second goal were a blur. In the 51st minute, Chicago forward Chad Barrett tallied his second score of the match when Hislop misread a shot on goal and punched it in the air. Hislop quickly lost track of the ball and couldn’t see where it had gone. Instead of flying up into the air, the ball rolled off the back of his hands. Goodson and Barrett chased after it, but Barrett beat the FCD defender to the ball and was able to seal the tying goal.

Two minutes later, Nunez retook the lead for FCD when David Wagenfuhr sent in a cross from the endline. Nunez came blazing in to hit the unmarked header that sailed past Chicago keeper Matt Pickens.

Chicago struck one more time in the 63rd minute after Alvarez fouled a Fire player on the outskirts of the box. Chicago midfielder Thiago hit a freekick that Jim Curtin finished. Hislop didn’t see the ball coming at him until it was too late. Instead of diving or shooting his arms out, he simply put his hands up front of his face and fell over to the left. The ball was already well into the net before Hislop even hit the ground.

The 82nd minute was when substitute Dominic Oduro put the team on his back and carried them to victory. Chicago took a corner kick that landed itself right on the head of Bobby Rhine. Rhine flicked it out of harm’s way and no more than a few paces in front of Oduro. Oduro caught up to it, shook off two defenders and took the ball the length of the field to shoot it over the keeper’s head into the top of the net.

Referee Abbey Okulaja was sure to stretch the match as long as he could before finally realizing that seven minutes of stoppage time was probably too much. It felt like an eternity from the time Oduro scored the goal to the end of the match, but sure enough Okulaja blew the whistle about fifteen minutes later and FCD had won.

Stand out names worth mentioning from this year’s Saturn Cup are Alvarez, Oduro and Hislop. Alvarez looked sharp in the first half with decent speed, dangerous runs, physical play and good passing. He helped set up Nunez who helped set up Ruiz on the second goal and did nothing but cause problems for Chicago the entire time he was in.

Based on the goals he has scored this preseason, Oduro is telling the world that he is ready for a breakout year. His speed on the counterattack as well as a great finish were what got him the fourth goal, and coming off the bench in the second half could make him FCD’s lethal weapon.

Oduro stood out for his speed, but Hislop stood out for his lack thereof. Hislop’s reaction time and reflexes are not as sharp as they need to be. On two of the three goals scored by Chicago, Hislop failed to react and instead just fell to whatever side the ball was shot on. The one goal on which he didn’t fall he punched the ball instead of catching it about four feet in front of the net. The first Chicago goal was due to poor defense, but Hislop was included in that as he was behind Goodson and all Barrett had to do was get the ball past him. Dallas is faced with the problem of Dario Sala being suspended for the first six games of the season, but based on Saturday’s performance, Hislop may not be a very good solution.

After the match, FC Dallas boarded their team bus and returned home. They will travel to Puerto Rico at the end of this week to play the Puerto Rico Islanders as well as the Los Angeles Galaxy before returning home to play the second leg of the USA-Brazil Challenge on March 31st.