still tied for fourth in MLS with seven goals -- started up top for Houston.
While Ching wasn't able to add to his goalscoring total -- a Kevin Hartman save of his bullet header in the first half was the best chance of the entire evening -- Albright saw his night end early. But it was for the best of reasons: Albright left the game to attend to his wife Leah, who went into labor with the couple's first child.
It was Dynamo's first trip to Carson since the shift of the San Jose Earthquakes during the offseason, and a couple of hundred fans made the trip down from northern California, taking over a corner of the stadium and wearing 'Quakes blue to cheer on the Houston side.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made one change to the team that knocked off Real Salt Lake 2-1 the previous weekend at Robertson Stadium. Brian Ching made his first appearance in a Dynamo uniform since May 6, a span of six games, since going away to join the U.S. national team. He came in for Ronald Cerritos.
Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel (Kelly Gray 76), Ryan Cochrane (Patrick Ianni 89), Eddie Robinson, Kevin Goldthwaite - Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Wade Barrett - Dwayne De Rosario - Alejandro Moreno (Ronald Cerritos 85), Brian Ching. [Substitutes Not Used: Chris Aloisi, Stuart Holden, Zach Wells, Chris Wondolowski]
"We created a few good chances in the first half, especially towards the end. In the second half, it was a bit of a stalemate. Pat (Onstad) made one save in the first half from Wolyniec and the defense held well," Kinnear said "The attack was good in the first half. We had a number of chances. In the second half, (the game was) kind of going back and forth, not too many chances."TEAM NEWS
Dynamo extended their unbeaten streak on the road to five games, but the last four have all been draws. "You kind of want three (points) on the road, but one is a positive result," Kinnear said. "You want the win obviously, so a tie is disappointing when you want the win. Sometimes you have to settle for a tie."
After going nearly the first half of the season without a trip to Carson, Dynamo will now return for a second game at The Home Depot Center in four days. They are hoping for similar support from former Earthquakes fans.
"It was very heartwarming," Kinnear said. "I have a couple of good friends up there and I knew they were going to bring down 150-200 people. Every time you look up there you get a little chill. It makes you realize that some people don't have soccer in their lives every weekend but they still care enough to drive 5 1/2 hours to see the team that they love."
It might have been Dynamo's first visit to Carson, but the California Clasico was certainly remembered. "It sounds a bit corny but in these games you throw the records out the window," Dynamo striker Alejandro Moreno said. "There is still a rivalry there and there is still some not-so-friendly feelings among the members of the team. These games are going to be tough games, hard-fought games."
Despite the return of Ching to the lineup for the first time in more than a month, Dynamo failed to find the scoresheet. Still, Kinnear and company were pleased with his return.
"He was a handful," Kinnear said. "You could tell he was probably a little bit tired at the end of the game but he was a good addition to the team for us." Said Moreno: "He's a big presence in the box and a big presence in the air for us. We haven't seen him in the last six weeks or so but he's going to get back into a rhythm with the team and we're going to get back into a rhythm with him and things are going to get better from here."
Despite taking an 11-hour flight from Germany to California the day before, Ching said he felt good in his return to MLS. "I was a little tired but I was excited to get back out there on the field. I felt pretty good once I started running around. I actually felt great considering I just flew in (Friday)," Ching said. "I was a little rusty but hopefully it will come back to me. It was my first game in a month since Venezuela (on May 26)."
