HOUSTON -- Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League match between the Houston Dynamo and Atlante FC was played on a beautiful February night in front at Robertson Stadium. There was a pregame moment of silence to honor the passing of Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden's father, who passed away last week after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.
And because Tuesday marked the first game for the Dynamo since just before Thanksgiving, there was an "opening-day" feel to the contest.
Most MLS teams won't play a competitive match for at least another month, but the Dynamo, who wore black armbands to honor Brian Holden, had a chance to do something special Tuesday.
But a night that began with so much fanfare and promise turned sour in the waning moments as an 82nd-minute goal by Gabriel Pereyra forced a 1-1 tie for Atlante just six months after the team was handed a 4-0 defeat by the Dynamo in last year's SuperLiga competition.
The Dynamo took a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute on a header by Bobby Boswell, but one crucial breakdown in the closing moments made for a mostly disappointing night.
"In the end, it's a defensive lapse and it is a 1-1 game," said Holden. "It's (disappointing) because we had the lead and gave it up. I think we felt that we should have won, I mean no one was singing and dancing in the lockerroom. We want to win every game and we go out to win every game."
Instead of taking a one-goal lead with them to Mexico, the Dynamo only have two options next Tuesday in the return match in Cancun: win the game -- something that no other MLS team has done on Mexican soil -- or score two goals and force a tie.
Either way, because of how they played Tuesday, the Dynamo think those goals are attainable.
"The 1-1 score makes it a little more difficult as we make our way down to Cancun," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "It is a good result for them and it is not a terrible result for us. It is not impossible. We just need to win a game away from home and that is something that we have done before."
The Dynamo were not happy with how the game was officiated. To be fair, the team did not complain about one side being favored over another, but the complaints centered on how many fouls (42) were called. That, Boswell said, made for a very choppy contest.
"We are a team that thrives on getting into a rhythm, and we were not able to do that tonight," Boswell said.
The Dynamo are now 4-2-3 all time against Mexican teams at Robertson Stadium and will get defender Eddie Robinson back from suspension for the rematch. That, and perhaps capitalizing on a few more of their opportunities might help the team advance in the CONCACAF Champions League.
"I thought we were good and I thought it was unfortunate that we did not come out of the first half with more goals," said Kinnear. "We had some good chances, some really good looks."
Last July, when the two teams met on on the same turf, the Dynamo did just that and raced out to a big lead before winning 4-0 at Robertson. This time, however, Kinnear thought Atlante was better prepared to play his team.
"I don't think they realized how good of a team we had, and tonight I think they were a little bit more prepared for us," Kinnear said. "Just because you beat a team 4-0 six months ago, doesn't mean you are going to beat them 4-0 the next time you see them."
Had they cashed in every first-half chance, they could have led by two or three goals at halftime. But Atlante survived the first half barrage and got the result they wanted with a gut-wrenching goal by Pereyra.
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