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'Caps looking for big win

They enjoyed the appetizer, and now the Vancouver Whitecaps are ready for the main course.

The Whitecaps earned their first point ever in Texas with a 0-0 draw against the Houston Dynamo last weekend. They now hope to collect their first victory in the Lone Star State when Vancouver plays FC Dallas in a Major League Soccer game Sunday.

The draw against the cellar-dwelling Dynamo was a confidence boost for the Whitecaps who enter the weekend in the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with an 8-8-6 record. They face a much bigger challenge this week against a Dallas team that leads the West with a 12-6-5 record. Dallas also is unbeaten at home this season (8-0-3) and has gone a franchise-record 16 consecutive games without a loss at Toyota Stadium.

Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson likes the idea of his team again doing something it hasn't done before.

"Every place that we go too, where we haven't got a point or won, I like to do things first," Robinson said after a Whitecaps' practice this week. "Houston was a good start for us.

"We will go to Dallas with confidence. We are in a decent run of form at the moment. We need to turn draws into wins. They (Dallas) are unbeaten at home. Maybe something has to give."

One Whitecap who is especially looking forward to the game is striker Blas Perez. The Panama City native spent four years playing in Dallas before coming to Vancouver in February in a deal for Mauro Rosales.

"I'm happy to come to Dallas," said Perez, who scored 36 goals during his Texas tenure. "It's a special game for me."

Perez smiled when asked if his familiarity with the Dallas players gives him an advantage.

"I know them," he said. "They will be prepared for this game. They know me too.

"I want to score (in) this game. We need to win the game or we need points. We need to be a good team to win the game."

Dallas can be a Jekyll-and-Hyde kind of team. They lead the West by scoring 35 goals but also have allowed 31, second most among teams in a playoff position.

Dallas has been shutout in all six losses this season by a combined score of 20-0. Four of those losses have been by three or more goals and twice Dallas was beaten 5-0. The Whitecaps scored a 3-0 victory over Dallas at BC Place Stadium on April 23.

Dallas is also coming off a stretch of playing eight games in 29 days. After a week break they will play seven games in the next 27 days.

"It's kind of our first test on how we're going to handle the rest of the season," defender Matt Hedges told the Dallas FC website.

"Obviously we need the three points against every Western Conference team we play here because it's tough to go to those places away."

The Whitecaps have taken points in five of their last six games but have settled for three draws. Keeping the Dynamo off the scoresheet was important for a Vancouver team that has given up 35 goals this season, more than any other team in the conference.

"We can take a lot from that," said defender Jordan Harvey. "Getting the clean sheet is massive for us. This season we have not had as many as we would have liked.

"In the heat, and against a quality opponent, you want to keep the ball. I thought we did that well."

The Whitecaps find themselves on an extended road trip much like an NHL team.

After the game in Dallas, part of the squad will travel to Houston for training.

The rest of the squad will play Tuesday in a CONCACAF Champions League match against Central FC at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. Those players will then join the rest of the team in Houston for a couple of days of practice before travelling to Colorado for an Aug. 6 game against the Rapids.



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