HOUSTON -- Before the Houston Dynamo played the first of two matches this week, most of the talk in the locker room centered on their tough schedule and how five matches in less than 21 days would affect a team looking to get back on track after a slow start.
All that chatter changed to how a bunch of young guys were going to respond to the challenge of carrying the team when two call-ups, an injury and a suspension took four more players out of the lineup.
After the Dynamo's hard-fought 1-0 win against the New York Red Bulls Saturday night -- the third shutout of the 2008 campaign for the Orange -- those young guys can walk around a little bit taller this week.
Geoff Cameron, Stuart Holden, Corey Ashe and company all came through at Robertson Stadium, helping the Dynamo to their third win in five matches and a temporary stop at the top of the Western Conference standings.
The young Dynamo players started in place of some of the team's biggest names. Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad were called-up to the Canadian national team for a Saturday-night friendly against Brazil in Seattle. Eddie Robinson was suspended after he was sent off in Wednesday's 2-2 tie at FC Dallas. Team captain Wade Barrett was not available with a left adductor injury.
Holden and Cameron assisted on Brian Ching's game winner and the effort of Houston's young core of talent helped the team keep its undefeated record at home (2-0-2).
"Tonight, it was just all heart and effort," said Cameron. "I mean we just went out there and worked our butt off. We won the 50-50 balls and finished a play when we needed to."
Ching sent the Dynamo faithful into a frenzy when he cashed in the team's fourth scoring chance in an eight-minute spurt midway through the second half.
His one-timer just out of the reach of Jon Conway was all the offense Houston would need on night when the team improved to 2-0 when the starting temperature at game time was above 90 degrees.
"Stewie [Holden] made a real heads-up play to get the ball through and I think he caught their defense sleeping a little bit," Ching said. "Their back wasn't even paying attention to the ball and Geoff made a really good play too. He put a great ball across right there in the box and it was a real easy play for me to finish.
"Our mindset was to go out there and play and put them pressure on them and try to get a goal."
And they did.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said the second half was much better than the first, and he was pleased to see his squad rewarded for stepping things up and taking advantage of a team playing without its star player.
With Juan Pablo Angel at home sick, his crew of young players made the difference as the game wore on.
"I think our young guys really worked hard tonight and ... the average age of our midfield was something like 23. You had Corey [Ashe], Geoff [Cameron], Stuart [Holden] and then Rico [Ricardo Clark] was the elder statesmen of the group at 25.
"Just the effort we got from them tonight was great."
The Dynamo will enjoy a day off Sunday before training Monday and Tuesday. After practice Tuesday, the team will fly to the nation's capital in advance of Wednesday's game against D.C. United.
Later this week, the team will visit the White House in honor of winning the second of two titles since moving to Houston before the 2006 season.
In the meantime, it looks like a sense of normalcy will be restored as Onstad, De Rosario and Robinson will be available to play Wednesday. Barrett, who was a game-time decision Saturday, could be ready to go as well.
Ching, looking in the direction of Holden as the two prepared to leave the stadium Saturday, said the team is finally starting to play like he knew they could all along.
No matter who is in the lineup, he said, the team should be able to compete with anyone on the field. And that Saturday was a big step for a team looking to establish itself as one of the toughest to beat in MLS, especially at home.
"If you look at our first 10 games, we had seven on the road, and in this league that is very difficult to play in," Ching said. "The way we started off, I think we were a little disappointed in how we started the season. But since then, we just put our heads down and have gotten back to playing how we are capable. Now we are working as a team and battling for results. I think in the past few games, you have really seen that."
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