Revolution vs. FC Dallas: Inspired by USOC trouncing, Rowe eyeing road result

The last time Kelyn Rowe visited Toyota Park, FC Dallas ran away with a U.S. Open Cup title. The Revolution had endured a thrilling ride to the tournament’s championship match, only to watch Mauro Diaz & Co. score three first-half goals en route to a 4-2 win.

Yet ahead of Saturday’s rematch, Rowe has no problem revisiting the loss. That’s because he’s driven to reconcile his club’s uninspired performance.

“You want to hold on as much as you can if it’s a positive way. Some guys will hold their heads and say, ‘I didn’t play well that game,’ and it may transfer over in a negative way,” Rowe said in a team release. “But if you have a positive kind of fire in your belly, absolutely, carry as much as you can.”

“[For] myself, yeah, a little fire in my belly” he continued. “We didn’t show great in that Final, I want to make sure we show a lot better. Like I said, I’m excited about this trip. ”

Though FC Dallas endured a heartbreaking loss of its own last season—falling to the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference semifinals—the club took home its share of hardware, winning the Supporter’s Shield and U.S. Open Cup in the same year.

The Toros have picked up where they left off, earning results in the season’s first two matches.

Still, none of this intimidates Rowe.

“We’re professional soccer players, we want to play at the best level and these guys have shown the past couple of years that they are a very good team,” he said. “You want to play the best teams and you want to get good results against them.”

And though he admits the Dallas attack poses a threat, Rowe remains focused on earning a road result.

“This is an exciting time for us,” he continued, “especially the second game of the year, coming off already a hard road trip and not going our way, we can bounce back and find a good road point or three.”

The Revolution and FC Dallas kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.