When the final whistle blew on Sunday, the players for FC Dallas knew the season had come to an end. Their faces reflected exhaustion, frustration, and disappointment. Austin FC had triumphed 2-1 to advance to the Audi Western Conference Semifinals, while Dallas would pick up the pieces and begin looking to 2023.
The loss ended one of the better seasons in recent years for FC Dallas and marked a historic reversal of fates from the previous season. Still, no amount of accolades over the season could blunt the feelings of the coaches and players that the season’s final loss evoked.
“It’s heartbreaking to end the season like that,” said Jesus Ferreira following the loss. “We know that everyone gave everything they could throughout the year to get to where we are now. We were unable to get the result this time, but we will keep our head[s] cool as we look forward to next season.”
Ferreira had a career year in 2022, scoring 18 goals and earning six assists over the course of the season. He tied a franchise record for goals scored in a season and is steadily creeping up the franchise leaderboard for all-time scores. Ferreira acknowledged that the ultimate goal for the team did not come to fruition despite the records and accomplishments this season.
“Thank you for supporting us along the way,” Ferreira said. “We would like to thank you for trusting us since day one. We dreamed of bringing the trophy back home at the end of the playoffs to you all. Unfortunately, we were unable to this year, but we are looking forward to the next one and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again soon.”
A significant part of the team’s turn-around in 2022 resulted from an off-season coaching change. After parting ways with Luchi Gonzalez, Dallas secured Nico Estevez away from the United States Men’s National Team, where he had served as an assistant coach for three years. Estevez set about bringing in new talent and utilizing players from the team’s homegrown program efforts to rebuild the team.
“I feel really, really proud of my players, my staff, the entire front office for this club for all the hard work that they’ve done throughout the year that puts us in a position to be fighting for the Western Conference Final,” Estevez said.
“We couldn’t do it tonight; we came up short … we didn’t show what we are able to do … We are a brave team, an aggressive team, and we had the chances to change the score. But I want to send a positive message from the entire season that this team has done. We’re disappointed today, but we learn to come out stronger for the next season.”
The successes of the season were not lost on the players. Brandon Servania has been with FC Dallas since 2018 and has seen highs and lows over the last several seasons.
“It’s a great group of guys,” Servania said. “We made progress from last year, and it still hurts because we know that we could have gone further than we did. But we just learned from what we did this year, and we will keep progressing from last year to this year, and then next year be even better.”
FC Dallas will now watch the semifinal competition from home as Austin FC will look for a win over Supporter’s Shield winner LAFC for a chance at the finals. Dallas has made the Championship game only once in 26 seasons. The coaches and players will now set their sights on resting, recuperating, and recharging before beginning the preparations for the 2023 season, which will begin in late February.
