Dynamo get happy end to '08 after all

HOUSTON -- In 2006 and 2007, the Houston Dynamo's last match of the season featured incredible drama, a huge comeback and a confetti-filled celebration at midfield in stadiums in Frisco, Texas and Washington, D.C.

The team's last MLS match in 2008 ended in what some consider the biggest playoff upset of all time when the New York Red Bulls came to Houston and knocked the Orange off their throne with a 3-0 win on Nov. 9 to claim their Western Conference Semifinal Series.

But Houston got the rare chance to play one more meaningful match. With a good crowd in attendance on a warm night before Thanksgiving, the Orange scored early in the first half and held on for a 1-0 win against El Salvador's CD Luis Angel Firpo to advance to the quarterfinal round in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League.

Thanks to Hurricane Ike, their last group match was rescheduled for Wednesday night, and the Dynamo didn't disappoint themselves or their fans.

After seeing their bid for a third consecutive MLS title ended, the Dynamo players talked about Wednesday's game as being a therapy of sorts. Maybe the patients can go home cured.

"We were disappointed, yeah, but we were also a little angry," said Nate Jaqua, who played his last match with the team after being selected by Seattle Sounders FC in Wednesday's MLS expansion draft. "We wanted to take that anger from losing to New York and use that as motivation for this game.

"We wanted to leave this season on a little bit of an up note, and we were able to do that. This game was all about getting to the next round, and we won."

Fittingly, Brian Ching, the first player to score for the team, against Colorado in April 2006, scored in the 13th minute, burying a header on a corner kick by Dwayne De Rosario.

And goalkeeper Pat Onstad, a 40-year-old Canadian who is, statistically, the best goalkeeper in MLS history, made five saves to record his 13th shutout of the season in 38 games played in all competitions.

"We wanted to come out here and have a good showing for us and for our fans," De Rosario said. "We deserve this because of the hard schedule and the great season we had. It was very important for us to end this season with a win, not only for the fans but for all the guys in the locker room that worked so hard day in a day out to give 100 percent."

The Dynamo made things interesting, falling prey to Firpo's aggressive style, especially in the second half.

The teams combined for 39 fouls, including eight yellow cards and two red cards that were evenly distributed between the two teams. Defender Eddie Robinson got Houston's red and will miss the team's first Champions League quarterfinal match next season.

De Rosario said his team should share some of the blame for falling into that style of play after Ching gave the Dynamo the 13th-minute lead that held up as the game-winner.

"Playing a team like that that does a lot of diving and draws the other team into a lot of fouls is definitely frustrating," said De Rosario. "But I thought we did well. I lost my composure at times, but I got my head back into the game."

In the end, head coach Dominic Kinnear's defensive substitutions proved key in keeping their Salvadoran guests off the scoreboard in the winner-take-all match. The Dynamo ended up second in Group B after the win, jumping ahead of Firpo, who were eliminated with the result.

Richard Mulrooney came in for De Rosario in the 81st minute. Kei Kamara replaced Jaqua in the 61st and Patrick Ianni replaced Ching in the 85th, giving Kinnear the energy and the defense needed to finish off the 1-0 shutout.

The appreciative crowd cheered as each of the Orange's stars came off the field, and De Rosario said hearing that ovation made up somewhat for the early playoff exit to the Red Bulls.

And getting the first goal, he said, helped the team set the tone and quickly put to rest any fears of not being able to convert as the team was unable to do time and time again against New York.

"I think our focus was to set the pace and the tempo right away," De Rosario said. "To score early, we did that. After that, we lost our focus a little bit, but we kept our composure and made that huge goal stand up.

"We're very good at crosses and Ching is great inside the box. We showed that again tonight."

With the win, the Dynamo advanced to the home-and-home quarterfinals of the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, with the first legs to be played Feb. 24-26.

The Dynamo will find out who they play on Dec. 10, and will play host to one of the other three group winners (either Atlante or Santos Laguna from Mexico or Marathon of Honduras) at Robertson Stadium in the first leg. The return match will be played at their opponents, March 3-5.