Clint Mathis opened the scoring with a close-range header in the 2nd minute and Rodrigo Faria notched two second-half goals to take the MetroStars past Dallas, 3-1, Thursday evening at the Cotton Bowl.
The victory marked the MetroStars league-leading seventh road victory and moved them from the eighth-seed spot in the playoff race to No. 6. Dallas, which has already clinched a playoff spot, remains at No. 4.
Ronald Cerritos equalized for the Burn on a tap-in after a sharp low pass through the goal area. Cerritos had to leave the field in the second half because of a knee injury suffered during a collision with MetroStars' defender Nelson Akwari. Cerritos is scheduled to undergo an MRI today.
DALLAS (11-8-7, 40 pts) 1 METROSTARS (11-12-2, 35 pts) 3.
Goals: Cerritos (Suarez, O'Brien) 14; Mathis (Davis, Williams) 2, Faria (Moore) 62, Faria (Diallo, Williams) 73.
Dallas — Jordan, Suarez, Broome, Bonseu, Morrow (Bussey, 80), Deering, Vaca, Pareja (Johnson, 70), O'Brien, Kreis, Cerritos (Rhine, 57).
MetroStars — Howard, Chronopoulos, Petke, Akwari, Jolley, Paule, Moore, Williams, Mathis (Diallo, 60), Davis, Faria (Ramos, 85).
Yellow Card: Dallas — Pareja 41.
Referee: Ricardo Salazar.
Att.: 7,913.