FRISCO, Texas -- After losing 3-1 to the Charleston Battery in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman clearly was not a happy man. After some 20 minutes, he emerged from his office to talk with the media, after meeting with assistant coach John Ellinger and FCD president and general manager Michael Hitchcock.
"It's a huge disappointment for us to be eliminated because it was a goal for us to compete for the Lamar Hunt Open Cup trophy," Hyndman said. "I think we started out OK. In the first 15-20 minutes, I think we had a gameplan and didn't get the goal we wanted. At the same time, we're at home, wanted a little bit more energy and people to get forward and make some crosses."
However, after Charleston's Lazo Alavanja scored following a miscue by FCD left back Blake Wagner in the 28th minute, it set an ominous tone for the rest of the evening.
"Then, it's just a simple mistake in the back that has been talked about in the past and here it goes again," Hyndman said. "So, you make a simple mistake and don't distribute the ball quick enough, they knock it off, score a goal and you're down 1-0. So, the gameplan now changes to how do we get this back?"
In the 39th minute, referee Doug Wolff called the teams off the field because of lightning and after a break of nearly an hour while waiting for the weather to clear, the teams returned. Hyndman felt the break did the Hoops some good.
"It was fortunate for us that we had a break with the lightning because we came in and discussed a lot of things," he said. "What I was trying to do was to get the players to: one, go with a gameplan and be disciplined in that and two, just make a commitment to each other and work for each other. I thought everything was great and then Arturo (Alvarez) hits the post."
However, any euphoria felt by Hyndman and his players was short-lived when Charleston's Ian Fuller made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute.
"We were getting forward," Hyndman said. "We got our first corner kick and I thought this was going to work out. Then, the ball comes across, Arturo hits the post and they come back on a counterattack goal and now we're down 2-0. The 3-0 goal was because we threw so many people forward. They had five shots and three goals. That's really frustrating and disappointing for the team."
Hyndman's players clearly were equally disappointed.
"It's part of the game," midfielder Arturo Alvarez said. "I think that in the first 20-25 minutes, we were outplaying them. They get a lucky goal and that's what happens in soccer. You get a lucky goal against you and you shouldn't put your head down, but we did. Them scoring the second goal, we had the same reaction after coming out. I think we're a much better team but things didn't go our way."
Right back Drew Moor agreed. "Obviously, (this is) a very disappointing result," he said. "We just didn't take care of our opportunities. Arturo had a great shot there just before they scored their second goal. If that goes in, it's something different and the whole dynamic of the game changes. You can't keep on relying on scoring late goals and coming back. We need to capitalize earlier."
One of the few bright spots for FCD came deep in second-half stoppage time when already trailing 3-0. Kenny Cooper headed in the lone FCD goal, from a cross by rookie Eric Avila, who entered in the 65th minute as a substitute.
"It's hard to go in when we're down 2-0," Avila said. "I just wanted to keep sending balls in. The ball came back to me and I saw three guys on the back post. I just tried to send it there and luckily, Kenny (Cooper) put it in."
Once again, Hyndman was not pleased with a lack of quality width in the FCD attack.
"Width is one of the principles of attack and you need to have it," he said. "We had width but it's not where we want it to be. We have flank players who want to play around the center line. I can't tell you how many conversations we've had about them getting into the attacking third. It's just really uncomfortable for these guys. It just comes to the point of doing what we ask you to do or we have to find people."
The FCD coach compared his team's current state to something he read in a book on motivation.
"You have to set a goal that you're on a bus and going in the right direction," Hyndman said. "I brought this up to the players that it's not just important that you're on the bus. You have to be in the right seat, a leader, a captain and a finisher. The people who aren't willing to be in this role need to get off the bus. That's kind of an analogy of how we get from being a good team to a great team. Right now, we have the potential to be a good team but we're not."
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