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Houston (0-0-0) at FC Dallas (0-0-0), 4 p.m.

Frisco, TX (Sports Network) - Schellas Hyndman guided FC Dallas to within one point of a playoff berth in his second season last year, and now the coach has the postseason in mind when the new season kicks off Saturday against Houston.

Dallas finished one point behind Real Salt Lake, which grabbed the eighth seed and won the MLS Cup title, despite a second half that concluded with five wins in the final seven matches.

Jeff Cunningham fueled Dallas' finish, scoring 16 of his MLS-high 17 goals in the final 15 games of the season.

Hyndman hopes Cunningham can carry his scoring touch into the new season, and the striker faces a team, the Houston Dynamo, on Saturday at Pizza Hut Park in the MLS opener for both sides that he has had success against in the past.

In eight career starts against the Dynamo, Cunningham has four goals and three assists. In the teams' final meeting last season, he scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Dallas win.

Considering Houston has allowed the least goals in each of the last two years, that's a good sign for Dallas as it hopes to get this season off to a winning start against its Texas rivals.

Veteran Dallas goalie Dario Sala admitted it would mean a little more to start the season with a win against Houston.

"For me, that is a different type of game. I have my mindset for every game but this one has a little added spice," Sala said on the league's website.

"To beat Houston in the opening game at home is doubly satisfying. We get the three points like normal when we win, but against Houston, it has a different flavor," Sala said.

Houston coach Dominic Kinnear has fielded one of the top teams in MLS for the last four seasons. Houston won back-to-back MLS Cup titles in 2006-07 and has made the playoffs each of the last two seasons as well.

Kinnear has a little different group this year, though, with U.S. midfielders Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark both now playing in Europe. Kinnear will also start the year without Cam Weaver, who will miss the match through injury.

Geoff Cameron, Lovell Palmer, Richard Mulrooney are among the players Kinnear hopes can fill those voids, but that remains to be seen.

Houston left a roster spot open as it continues to look for the right player to help replace the departed duo, but Kinnear obviously doesn't want his side to get off to a slow start if it takes time to find the right mix.

"We have to look out for the team down the road," Kinnear said on the league's website. "June's right around the corner and sometimes you need some money around to make sure if something comes your way you can jump on that."