Union turns up the heat, Mwanga burns Dallas to earn 1-1 tie in MLS

There are no official numbers on exact time of possession - or number of chances - but it's safe to surmise that in the Union's 1-1 tie with FC Dallas Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, the home side held the advantage in both.

Deft passing and constant pressure was rewarded with a stoppage-time goal from an improbable, second-half substitution as Danny Mwanga, the Union's first pick in this year's SuperDraft, pounded home absolution in the 94th minute.

Off an attempted clearance from the Dallas defense, the ball fell to the feet of Mwanga just above the penalty spot, and the 19-year-old pounded it home. Mwanga had entered the game in the 81st minute for defender Cristian Arrieta as the Union desperately sought an offensive surge in the closing minutes.

It was a goal that sent the crowd of 25,038 at Lincoln Financial Field into a frenzy as Mwanga's equalizer staved off what would have been a fifth consecutive loss.

"I saw [FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman] was covering the near post pretty hard so I was trying to put a little bend on it," said Mwanga. "But really, I just tried to hit it as hard as I could and hoped that the spot I picked he wouldn't be able to get his hands on it. It felt good. We worked so hard to be able to get that goal for my teammates and for our fans was a great feeling."

Defensively, the Union's backline of Arrieta, Michael Orozco, Jordan Harvey, and captain Danny Califf played with cohesion arguably better than the preceding three games the trio were together. Califf's systematic shutdown of Dallas scoring threat Jeff Cunningham - who had entered the game as the team's leading goal scorer with four in six games - caused Cunningham's day to end in the 63rd minute, visibly frustrated, as was Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman.

"He didn't do as good of a job as he usually does so we just thought it was time to take him out," said Hyndman. "Defensively, the Union made it very difficult, but honestly, Califf did a good job of shutting him down."

The tie keeps the Union undefeated at home (1-0-1) but more importantly provides momentum going into a much-needed bye week before the team heads back on the road again, with games in Houston (May 29), Chicago (June 5) and Kansas City (June 10) before unveiling PPL Park in the second "home opener" against Seattle on June 27. That will be the first game for the Union following the 2-week MLS hiatus for the FIFA World Cup.

"Work, work, work and more work, that's what we have in store going forward here," said Union manager Peter Nowak, who still stressed that the team has a lot more to learn to remain competitive. "All around, the game was pretty good, but we still need to get the ball off our feet quicker. Even in MLS, there is a 6-second-or-so window before you have someone on top of you, and as you'll see in the [UEFA] Champions League final [Saturday between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich], the window is about 2 seconds. So we need to pass quicker if we are going to be more effective."

Despite giving up the clean sheet, FC Dallas keeper Kevin Hartman proved that, at 36, he can still hang with the best of them. Hartman accounted for six saves among 16 shots on goal. Prior to Saturday's match, Hartman ranked third in the league in saves percentage (81.8) and fifth in clean sheets in just three games. And to think, he was available in last November's MLS expansion draft after being let go by the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Daily News picked him to be a member of the Union's First XI prior to the draft . . . Midfielder Fred said the tie "felt like a win," considering all the hard work . . . Goalkeeper Chris Seitz had his right knee heavily wrapped in ice following the game, but both Seitz and the training staff noted it was just a formality . . . The Union had 21 total shots, 16 on goal, and one that went in. Gives new meaning to the soccer term, "hacking away" . . . The Independence jumped into second place in the WPS standings with a 1-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday, when Joanna Lohman buried an assist from Amy Rodriguez in the sixth minute of play. The Independence (3-1-2) is off until May 30 when it's back on the road against the Washington Freedom (6 p.m., Maryland Soccerplex in Boyds, Md.) in the last of three road games during the month of May.