Sunday afternoon in front of a boisterous crowd at Robertson Stadium, the Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas added another great game to their list of entertaining matches.
As the match worked its way to a 3-3 draw capped by Geoff Cameron's first MLS goal in the 91st minute, there was a potentially major injury, two lead changes, several costly turnovers and even an own goal that ultimately proved to take two points away from the visitors.
Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad left in the 28th minute with a right shoulder injury. FC Dallas scored two goals in a span of 10 minutes late in the first half to erase a 1-0 Houston advantage and Drew Moor deflected a pass by Cameron past Dario Sala early in the second.
But what many fans will remember from Sunday's match is Cameron's well-timed heroics. And the fact that the Dynamo still have yet to lose to their intrastate rivals inside their home stadium.
They are now 5-0-1 against the Hoops at Robertson in league play, with another win in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Just listening to Cameron's description of the game-winning goal was enough to help forget, somewhat, the mistakes that led to the deficit in the first place.
"It was a great experience," Cameron said of his first start and first MLS goal. "I got the ball down side left and I was going to play the ball down the line, but I didn't see anything available. I just cut in, saw Brian (Ching) check off his man. He had a great turn, and I thought he was going to take it in himself. The guy came closing down and sliding through, and I just hit the ball as hard as I could. It went in the net."
That goal put the finishing touches on what was the season's first great comeback.
And Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear was pleased with how his team responded to Onstad's injury, and then rallying for the point.
"Today was an up and down affair," Kinnear said. "We were helping ourselves out and then shooting ourselves in the foot the next minute. The attitude today was fantastic.
"We have to give Dallas some credit thought, because they really capitalized on the mistakes we made. But we had the attitude today just to keep on going."
Onstad will be re-evaluated Monday and his status for Wednesday's match against Saprissa in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinals is still very much up in the air.
Tony Caig allowed three goals in relief, but recovered nicely to make several big saves late in the second half, setting up Cameron's extra-time heroics.
Onstad, the club's leader in every goalkeeping statistic, said he was downcast with the injury after colliding with Hoops defender Blake Wagner in the 22nd minute.
But to see the team come back and tie the game, he said, made it a really great result for the two-time defending champions.
"It was a tough match for me and I am a bit disappointed, but it was really great to see the guys battle back," Onstad said. "To be down by two goals and then to come back and tie it with a late goal ... it just turned out to be a really great result for us."
Also injured in the game was defender Eddie Robinson, who had his right knee drained before the game. Just before time expired, he hurt his shin and his availability for Wednesday is now in question.
"Eddie will get some X-rays and then we'll go from there," Kinnear said. "We will learn more tomorrow and then we will be better able to assess the situation."
Ching, whose perfect pass to Cameron set up the game-tying goal, said there was a stretch for about 10 minutes Sunday that really put the team behind the 8-ball.
But, he said, the positives outweighed the negatives, as the team mostly avenged a poorly-played 3-0 loss to New England in the season's opening weekend.
"Once things settled down, we were able to move the ball around a little bit," Ching said. "We saw some good goals today and I think we need to be a little bit more mentally sharper so we don't make the same mistakes. We don't need to get behind in games and then are forced to expend a lot of energy."
Kinnear agreed, and will take the draw in advance of Wednesday's rematch against Saprissa.
"We are happy with the point," Kinnear added. "You always go out there and you want to get three but under the circumstances and to score so late. But the attitude from the guys was very great today."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
