FRISCO – FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow was surprised to learn Wednesday that his top striker, Kenny Cooper, has the lead in a negative MLS category.

He leads the league with 12 offside calls in six matches.

"I didn't know that. I don't know if there is a direct connection between being offside and not scoring goals," Morrow said. "If it's something individual, it is coachable. He just needs to time his run a little bit better, maybe, but it's not a factor I was aware of."

Just a few games into the season, Cooper shared the league's scoring lead with Los Angeles' Landon Donovan. But the Jesuit graduate has not scored in the last two matches and sits on four goals.

Donovan has taken off as the league's top scorer with eight goals, leaving Cooper and Columbus' Alejandro Moreno in second.

Cooper said he recognizes his undesirable trend and is working on improving.

"I just need to be more aware of it and get the timing down a little better with receiving the passes," Cooper said. "Obviously that's not a statistic I want to be leading in the league or the team."

Morrow described Cooper as a striker with a tendency to drift out wide, although he would like him to attack more through the center of the field.

Cooper said defensive chores sometimes force him wide to close down on defenders. He also likes to add a surprise factor.

"I want to be unpredictable, and playing wide or playing in the middle kind of mixes it up sometimes," Cooper said.

Offense cools off: After a hot start, FC Dallas had its second straight match without a goal Saturday at San Jose.

However, Morrow said his team is not in a drought.

"We are doing a lot of work offensively in the last third of the field, trying to create more opportunities around the box," he said. "But we are not too worried. Teams go through spells where they don't score for a couple of games, that's perfectly normal."

McCarty to undergo surgery: Midfielder Dax McCarty will travel to Germany on Tuesday to undergo surgery on a sports hernia, Morrow said. He is expected to miss up to three weeks.

McCarty has one assist in six matches, four as a starter, for FC Dallas this season.

FC Dallas (2-1-3) at Real Salt Lake (1-3-2), 8 p.m. Saturday (Ch. 52)