Hoops find meaning in finale vs. LA

FRISCO, Texas -- On Sunday afternoon at The Home Depot Center, FC Dallas will face the Los Angeles Galaxy in a matchup featuring two teams that will not advance to the MLS Cup Playoffs. Many might call it a meaningless affair but don't say that to the Hoops, who are treating their final installment of the 2008 season as another big game.

"I think it's good for a couple of reasons," FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "One, it's to finish the season on a good note, on a win because playing with pride shows character. Another reason is this is another opportunity for us to evaluate players. I still have to evaluate Victor (Sikora). He's been injured and has only has an opportunity to play a couple of games. I've got to decide if Victor is going to be part of this for next year."

FCD will be without their top two holding midfielders after both saw red cards in last week's 3-1 loss to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. Marcelo Saragosa, who had the Hoops' only goal in the loss, was sent off in the first half after getting a second yellow card, and Pablo Ricchetti was ejected in the second half with a straight red.

In Ricchetti's place, Hyndman will likely use Adrian Serioux, who normally plays in the back four but did man the holding midfield spot for Houston during their run to the 2006 MLS Cup.

"I think he has a lot of great qualities for that position," Hyndman said of Serioux. "He's a defensive-minded player. He's got great size on him, good athletic ability and can win 50-50 balls. In the attacking phase, he's a good distributor of the ball and has good vision."

The Canadian international and national team mainstay is clearly ready to return to his old spot.

"That's the thing, it's obviously a position that I love to play," Serioux said. "I'll be able to see how quickly I will be able to adapt to it once I get into it. It takes a while for some players to get into the transition of playing a new role. Even though it is a new position that I have played previously, it will still be difficult to get back in the middle there and be as quick as I used to be. We'll see. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that everything goes well."

Serioux moving up the field will allow Hyndman to plug Aaron Pitchkolan, who performed well while captain Duilio Davino was out for seven games late in the year, into the other center back spot.

"He (Serioux) really brings the qualities that we need there with Pablo (Ricchetti) not being here," Hyndman said. "It also gives us a chance to get (Pitchkolan) back on the field. So, it's a one-for-one change, put Pitch on the field and move Adrian. I think it's the right move for us at this point and time."

Sunday's affair will be the last game in MLS for Bobby Rhine, who has been with the club since 1999 and announced his retirement earlier this week. The longest-tenured player for the Hoops will be involved in the game but it remains to be seen whether it will be as a starter or a substitute.p> Another interesting sidebar is that this game could determine who wins the 2008 Budweiser Golden Boot, which is given to the league's top scorer. LA's Landon Donovan is the current leader with 19 goals but FCD striker Kenny Cooper is hot on his heels with 18.

Cooper would need to score twice with Donovan being scoreless but the Dallas native has already had four two-goal games this year. Donovan, on the other hand, has three two-goal games and a pair of hat tricks for the Galaxy in 2008.

But the scoring title isn't even on Cooper's radar.

"I'm sure they want to finish off the year strong just like we do," he said. "It's going to be a tough game even though we're not playing for the playoffs. We're playing for pride and it's the last game of the season, so we want to finish it strong. I'm really looking forward to it. They obviously have a lot of good players, a lot of dangerous players going forward. It's just a good opportunity for us to finish the year on a positive note."

His teammates agree there is much more to play for than a scoring title.

"There's still three points to play for and positioning in the table for the end of the season," FCD defender Drew Moor said. "Obviously, we're not where we want to be at this point in the season having not qualified for the playoffs. But I think that's the little bit of motivation that we need to go into the game on Sunday in a tough place. We haven't played the Galaxy at their place yet this year, so it will be a good experience. We're going in to try and get the three points to finish the season on a win."

Serioux agreed.

"It's just a game to end the season on a positive note," he said. "For us right now, obviously being out of the playoffs is a tough one to swallow. But we're just going to go in there and do what we should've been doing all season long, is getting wins. Some of the pressure has been taken off, which will kind of be fun for a change. We can just go in there and kind of just be free, do what we want to do and what we're capable of doing. We'll see what happens. Hopefully we get the result that we deserve."