just the second time in league history that has been accomplished -- after a 2-1 victory against the New England Revolution.
"People like to point to D.C. as where the season started to turn around for us," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "We were away from home, and it kicked off some good play for us. We were 2-5-1 at that particular time, and that particular game sparked the 11-game unbeaten streak."
Dynamo experienced great highs and lows during the season like every other team in MLS, but for Houston, the year began a lot sooner. The Orange started playing in February with the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Dynamo's run in the continental club championship ended with an extra-time loss to Pachuca of Mexico in the semifinals just days before the MLS season started. Houston struggled on offense out of the gate as its defense stood pat and kept Dynamo in most games.
"It was a long season starting in February with great soccer," said Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad. "Before the MLS season, we were playing at our peak, but we slumped at the beginning of the season. We were peaking at the end of the season, though."
Summer was a good time of year for the Orange, who rode their 11-game unbeaten streak through a tough schedule that saw the Dynamo play 15 games in less than 10 weeks.
Along with their 11 MLS games, the Dynamo played four games in the inaugural SuperLiga in late July and early August. After winning their group, the Orange were eliminated from the inaugural tournament by eventual winner Pachuca -- once again -- in a penalty shootout.
Dynamo's unbeaten streak ended with a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake that was followed up with a loss at Colorado, but the club rebounded to finish the season on a six-game unbeaten streak. Houston was in contention for the Western Conference crown until the last game of the year, where Dynamo tied Western Conference champion Chivas USA 0-0 in L.A.
In the playoffs, Houston lost the first of the two-game conference semifinal series 1-0 to FC Dallas, and trailed the series 2-0 on aggregate in the 60th minute of the second leg before the Dynamo offense came alive with four goals in a 30-minute span of the second half and extra time to help the defending MLS Cup champs advance.
Houston cruised past Kansas City in the Western Conference Championship before coming from behind in the MLS Cup Final against New England to repeat.
Defense was a key for the Dynamo all year.
"The defense did so well because it was a team effort," Kinnear said. "It started with our forwards, and if you got past them, then you had another line of defense in our midfield who you had to get past. If you got past them, then you had another line of defense to get past in our four defenders. If you got past them, then you had to get the ball in the net past our great goalkeeper in Pat Onstad. It was a total team effort on defense all year.
"Each unit is hard to break down. Our guys have the attitude and responsibility to defend as a team and take it seriously."
Depth was another important key for Houston, who used 20 players over the campaign. The Orange missed Onstad as well as forward Brian Ching and midfielders Dwayne De Rosario and Ricardo Clark during their 11-game unbeaten streak due to Gold Cup call-ups.
Missing those four players gave rookie midfielder Corey Ashe, second-year players Stuart Holden, Patrick Ianni and Chris Wondolowski and backup goalkeeper Zach Wells a chance to play.
"Holden came on strong for us, and Pat Ianni came in and played very well for us," Kinnear said. "It was an absolute team effort from the back to the front for us. Not having those four guys due to the Gold Cup, Copa America and national team call-ups gave other guys a chance to play, and they came up big for us."
Also helping the Dynamo cause were three trades made during the season that gave Houston even more depth. Midfielder Richard Mulrooney was acquired from Toronto for Kevin Goldthwaite in May; forward Joseph Ngwenya was acquired from Columbus for Alejandro Moreno in June; and forward Nate Jaqua was acquired from Los Angeles for Kelly Gray in July.
"Richard had been with the team before, and he is an All-Star caliber player," Kinnear said. "It was important for us to have depth heading into the summer knowing we were going to be missing guys due to national team call-ups, so he was a smart pick-up.
"I always liked Joe, and we had put word in before asking about him, so when we had the chance to get him, we jumped on it. Nate was another great pick-up. The moves worked out, but I think they worked out because of the locker room, and the guys in the locker room made it so easy for the guys to join the team and be welcomed.
"But, what people forget is that we gave up some good players in Goldthwaite, Moreno and Gray to get those three players."
After the season, defender Eddie Robinson and DeRosario were honored for their play by being named to the MLS Best XI.
"To be named to the Best XI is an honor," Robinson said. "For me this year, it is one person accepting this award for the team. I wouldn't have been able to do what I did without the forwards and midfielders. Our whole team was the reason everything happened.
"Teams watched how ball-hungry our midfielders are, and once a team got the ball, it was going to be hard for them just to get to our defenders, but if they did, it was going to be tough for them to score. We have a bunch of guys who contribute to our defense and the defensive records we set this year. I wouldn't have gotten the award without help from a lot of guys."
But celebrating titles can't last long, and Houston is already preparing for the 2008 season. The club is in the midst of stadium talks with the city of Houston, and in a further sign of growth within the league, current owner-operators AEG have put the team up for sale, after the league's desire to have owners control just one club.
"I would be shocked if we can't find an owner in Houston," Onstad said. "The success we have had in Houston makes us hope we can find someone to keep us in Houston. It hasn't broken into the conversation in the locker room, but I think we will stay in Houston."
The Orange have already lost two members of their championship squad in defender Ryan Cochrane, who was taken by San Jose in the expansion draft, and Wells, who Houston traded to D.C. for Bobby Boswell.
Also, forward Joseph Ngwenya is in Germany training with Alemania Aachen and veteran forward Paul Dalglish doesn't appear to be returning to Dynamo.
"We will be pursuing another goalkeeper this offseason," Kinnear said. "The thing with Bobby Boswell came about so quickly that we had to jump on it. We have players that other teams want, but at the same time, we don't want to move players unless the move is beneficial to us as well.
"Forward is definitely an area that we possibly need help with. We have the flexibility of being able to move players like Dwayne or Brian Mullan from midfield to forward, but we don't want to if we don't have to. We possibly need another forward if we lose a guy like Joseph Ngwenya to the German club."
Houston will open the season again in February playing the Pan-Pacific tournament before starting the CONCACAF Champions' Cup play. Those two tournaments are just the start of what should be another busy year for the Orange, which will also include SuperLiga play again as well as the grind of the league campaign.
"We hope that fatigue doesn't become a problem," Kinnear said. "It becomes important to the coaching and training staffs that we do a good job of getting the guys ready to play. We have to give them days off when they need them like we did this year, and we'll have to have depth again this year with the Olympics coming up and other tournaments.
"We'll have to use a lot of players again this year, but we're ready for whatever comes our way."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
