Believe this: the Portland Timbers are undefeated in their last seven matches, undefeated on the road in 2013, are fourth place in the Western Conference, have the sixth best points-per-game average, and also have the sixth best record in the MLS. This is not your cagey, defensive-minded, scattered-in-the-attack Spencer-era Timbers side that enters Dallas tonight.

Everything has been a welcome change in Dallas this season. A refreshed attack, a home unbeaten streak, a healthy set of starters, a six point lead on the Western Conference, and shrewd offseason acquisitions (I’ve suddenly forgotten who Peter Luccin was) have all catapulted Frisco FC to new heights. None of these things were present last season, and if so, only for certain moments, and certainly not at the same time.

Three. Ten. Four. These three numbers have much to bear on FCD’s burgeoning 2013 road campaign: they were last year’s dismal results away from Frisco. Only thirteen out of a possible fifty-one points went in Hyndman’s direction in 2012. This may be the biggest question for FCD, given the club’s superb form in success: can the squad be as consistent outside of Texas as they are inside the lone star state?

Not six months ago these two sides battled it out for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Vancouver was in flux at the time as coach Martin Rennie searched for the right squad to take Vancouver into the playoffs and the 2013 season. FC Dallas, six months ago, scrambled, clawed, and tirelessly fought for the final Western Conference playoff spot only to come up empty-handed.

Questions and a disputed title loomed over Saturday’s match against Los Angeles. Could Hyndman’s side claim, arguably, the biggest scalp in the Western Conference? Had FCD steamed to the top of the west and league with a favorable home schedule? Were thirteen out of eighteen possible points a product of luck rather than dominance?

Much time has passed since that statement could be uttered confidently in North Texas. In its fourth match of the 2013 campaign, FCD looks to defeat a Salt Lake side that is historically 0-8-3 in Frisco during the Jason Kreis era.

Win this match, and the rest of the season may not matter. Such comfort could easily be ascribed to if the season’s auspices weren’t so promising for Hyndman and company in Dallas. With Houston visiting today in Frisco, much more than a 19th century howitzer will be at stake: the Dynamo need to rebound after a 3-0 CCL thrashing at the hands of Santos Laguna, knocking them out of the competition. FC Dallas need a full 90 minute showing offensively and defensively, and to prove that their offseason-acquired firepower isn’t going to waste.

There is a newfound, yet tentative aura of optimism drifting through the crisp March air in Frisco. Despite the lack of three-nils and flowing football throughout the preseason, there is a common belief that the team has goals in it; a belief that will be tried tonight with Colorado’s arrival.

After a long, playoff-less 2012 season, FC Dallas will attempt to turn around their end-of-season playoff spurning into a stronger 2013 run, with a deeper, but fluctuating squad. It may be (at least on paper) the strongest team fielded yet in Frisco.

Only four members from FCD’s 2010 MLS Cup run remain in what has been an awfully active offseason. Changes have abounded, from Doug Quinn’s arrest in NYC, to the unexpected-yet-feasible transfer of Brek Shea to Stoke City, to the signing and releasing of Brazilian-talent-and-also-bust, Pipico.