Andre Rocha was the hero Saturday night as FC Dallas earned a draw against the Seattle Sounders at Pizza Hut Park. With the tie Dallas has five points from nine games and is tied with San Jose for last place in the Western Conference.

Dallas started the game with a patchwork defense featuring Drew Moor at left back, a position he hasn’t played since his college days at Indiana, Marcelo Saragosa at right back and Steve Purdy and George John in the middle. Additionally, the fans at Pizza Hut Park started the game a man down with El Matador, a supporters’ group staging a silent protest against the team management in the first half.

From the get go, Saragosa struggled mightily on the left. He was beaten by Seattle rookie Steve Zakuani in the 12th and Zakuani’s cross was barely cleared over the goal by a stretched out Purdy. Later in the 18th minute, John lost a header to Nate Jaqua who passed to defender Jhon Hurtado who beat Saragosa with strength to chip an oncoming Ray Burse. The Dallas keeper’s decision to come off his line was a blunder, but he recovered to have a decent game. Saragosa and Moor swapped spots after the goal due to the directions of Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman. Also in the 18th minute, an injury forced Zach Scott off. He was replaced by Tyson Wahl in the first of many substitutions due to injury. In 24th, Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham was replaced by youngster Brek Shea. Soon after in the 28th, Danny Torres replaced George john who had tweaked his right hamstring. Torres also struggled with the speed and strength of the Seattle attack and was well beaten by Brad Evans whose chip missed the goal by only inches as it bounced off the post. In the 38th minute, Zakuani again showed his class dangling past Purdy, but couldn’t finish, just missing the net.

Against the run of play, Dallas tied the game just before half. Two minute into stoppage time, Saragosa played a hopeful ball into the box from midfield which found Rocha clear of the defense. He hit an incredible volley that took an express route into the net past a helpless Kasey Keller. Soon after the restart, referee Terry Vaugh blew the whistle for halftime and Dallas went into the locker room on a rare high note.

Purdy couldn’t continue after the break due to a knock he picked up in the first half and was replaced by Bruno Guarda with Dallas shifting to a 3-5-2. Team Captain Pablo Ricchetti moved to center back where he excelled, leading the defense through his energy and communication.

The second half took a while to warm up. Zakuani took a shot in the 48th, but Burse made a nice save. In the 59th minute, Shea run past Hurtado and took an angled shot that was well held by Keller. From that point on, Dallas gathered steam and played good attacking soccer. In the 65th minute, Dave van den Bergh hit a free kick into the box that found Moor unmarked, but his header was straight at Keller. In the 71st, a good team movement lead to a cross by Rocha that was claimed by Keller. In the 74th, Sigi Schmid made a defensive sub bringing on Stephen King for Nate Jaqua. In the 79th injury struck again and Brad Evans had to be replaced by Sana Nyassi after he collided with Burse.

The game closed down again and both teams seemed content with a draw. David Ferreira made a tricky run into the box in stoppage time, but his shot was deflected out of bounds by the Seattle defense.

The game ended a fair 1-1 result for both sides. Seattle certainly dominated the first half, but Dallas was strong in the second. Of particular note was the impressive performance of Ricchetti at the center back spot. Drew Moor said of his captain, “He was great, talking the whole time, he brought energy.”

Player Ratings (scale of 1-10, with 10 being best)

Ray Burse, 6 — Made up for his early blunder will solid play to keep the game tied.

Marcelo Saragosa, 4 – Horrible at left back, but assisted on the goal and ok at midfield.

George John, 5 — Didn’t have a lot of time to establish himself, but wasn’t bad and played with intensity.

Steve Purdy, 5 — Same deal as John, got turned by Zakuani which nearly lead to a goal.

Drew Moor, 5 — Asked to play all over the field and was decent throughout

Andre Rocha, 6 — Moped around a bit, but scored a great goal to earn a point for his team.

David Ferreira, 5 — Aside from a last minute run, was average which is no where nearly good enough for the supposed playmaker.

Pablo Ricchetti, 8 — The team captain was excellent at center back and shut down the Seattle attack for the second half.

Dave van den Bergh, 6 — Another solid performance from a veteran player.

Jeff Cunningham, 3 — Only played a few minutes, but was horrible.

Kenny Cooper, 4 — Not a great game from the big man, but he had a cold.

Subs:
Brek Shea, 7 — A great season debut from a promising player. He hustled and created chances.

Danny Torres, 4 — Too slow to be more than a marginal player at the MLS level.

Bruno Guarda, 6 — A good performance for the team goat, I’m liking him more already.