FC Dallas Takes the West's No. 2 Seed: Portland Comes to Frisco on Nov. 21 to Open the Best-of-3
A 3-1 Decision Day win over Colorado closed a franchise-record 62-goal season at 16-8-10. Petar Musa's 22 goals finished second in the Golden Boot race — and the reward is home field against a Portland team that won its last four.
FRISCO — FC Dallas spent the season defying the preseason predictions, and now it has the seed to prove it. Dallas locked up the Western Conference's No. 2 seed with a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on Decision Day at Toyota Stadium, closing the regular season 16-8-10 with 58 points — and a franchise-record 62 goals, seven road victories (a club high in the post-shootout era) and a 51st consecutive regular-season sellout in Frisco. MLS's playoff field, published Sunday and updated Monday, sends the No. 7 seed Portland Timbers to Frisco to open the Round One Best-of-3 series on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m. Central on Apple TV.
The matchup runs through the strikers. Dallas's Petar Musa tallied 22 goals and 6 assists to finish second in the Golden Boot race, with Logan Farrington and Joaquín Valiente in support, on head coach Eric Quill's side — MLS's own summary calls Dallas the team that 'defied preseason expectations.' Portland arrives as the West's hottest low seed: the Timbers won four straight to end the regular season, with Kristoffer Velde producing 12 goals and 10 assists. Game 2 is in Portland on Saturday, Nov. 28 (9:30 p.m. CT, Providence Park), and a deciding Game 3, if necessary, returns to Frisco on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
The format leaves no room for a bad night to hide: the Best-of-3 is home-away-home, first to two wins advances, and tied games in Round One go straight to penalties — no extra time. MLS Cup is set for Friday, Dec. 18, and the road to it, for Dallas, runs through a stadium that has sold out 51 straight times. The desk's match files follow each game of the series on the standing game-night cadence.
