a span of 11 MLS games -- and just their second in 16 games in all competitions. The Colorado Rapids had last won in MLS play on May 26, having scored just three goals in their last eight league encounters.
• The Rapids took the lead through a little good fortune. Goalkeeper Pat Onstad gave away a corner kick with a shanked clearance, and from a second attempt from the flag, Terry Cooke drove in a ball toward the near post that Dynamo midfielder saw go off his head and past Onstad for the 60th-minute opener.
• The Rapids went down a man in the 77th minute Ugo Ihemelu was sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity after he pulled down Houston striker Joseph Ngwenya from behind just outside the area. But the Rapids withstood the final flurry from Dynamo to claim the win and close the gap for the eighth and final playoff place.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made three changes to his team as he continued with his rotation system with a heavy fixture load. Patrick Ianni came into central defense for Eddie Robinson, Dwayne De Rosario came back into the midfield for Stuart Holden, and Nate Jaqua started up top for Brian Ching.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-4-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane (Corey Ashe 46), Patrick Ianni, Wade Barrett - Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Richard Mulrooney, Dwayne De Rosario - Nate Jaqua (Brian Ching 63), Joseph Ngwenya. Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Stuart Holden, Eddie Robinson, Zach Wells, Chris Wondolowski
• "I am surprised tonight because we didn't win. We are making mistakes now where we haven't been before. We have lost seven games this year, they were all 1-0 and that's the difference in the game when you make mistakes," Kinnear said.
TEAM NEWS
• Dynamo's back-to-back losses to Salt Lake and Colorado left the team tired of falling to teams they feel they should beat.
• "It's embarrassing losing to the two worst teams in the league," said striker Brian Ching, who came into the game as a 63rd-minute substitute. "It's something that we need to look at and take responsibility for. If you look at some of the other teams around the league, we don't do well."
• At home, Dynamo play on one of the tightest fields in the league. In their first game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, they adapted the field well in a 3-1 victory, getting all three goals in a second-half blitz. But while they out-shot the Rapids, they didn't make the adjustment to the field as well the second time around.
• "When we had the ball we tried to spread them out, but defensively you want to be a little more together," Kinnear said. "We gave them a little too much room to get in behind us. When we had the ball we wanted to spread them out, because we thought we could utilize our wide players a little bit."
• Said Onstad: "For some reason we were just kind of camping on the top of our 18, and when you do that on such a big field, it opens up the space on midfield, and tonight I thought you saw Colorado get a lot of success by getting the ball wide," Onstad said. "Terry Cooke must have had 20 crosses today. His leg's probably tired after the match."
• Then on Tuesday, Dynamo and Pachuca once again hooked up in a terrific international match, the Mexican side again coming away with the victory in the SuperLiga semifinals as they won in a penalty kick shootout following a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes.
• Dwayne De Rosario gave Dynamo a sixth-minute, but after Patrick Ianni was sent off in the 13th minute, Juan Carlos Cacho and Andres Chitiva scored on either side of halftime to put Pachuca in the lead. Yet despite the man disadvantage, Eddie Robinson headed home a Richard Mulrooney freekick seven minutes from time for the equalizer.
• Chitiva was sent off for a second bookable offense in the 85th minute, but substitute Corey Ashe was sent off in the first extra period to again leave Dynamo a man down, but they survived to the shootout. Each team hit their first three, then after Brian Ching hit the post, Pat Onstad saved from Damian Alvarez. But Joseph Ngwenya had his effort saved by Miguel Calero, and Rafael Marquez Lugo scored to send Pachuca into the final.
• "I was a little disappointed with the outcome. We've been on the good side of that, and now we've been on the bad side of that. I told my guys that the show they put on tonight, the game, the effort -- I think it's an overstated word, but it was awesome," Kinnear said. "We fought so hard. We played fantastically keeping Pachuca on their heels. It's hard to play Pachuca with 11, let alone 10. I'm really happy with the way the guys played. Even with nine guys there at the end, (Chris Wondolowski) tried to win the game. It was difficult night for us. Difficult opponent no matter where you play them. Playing them with nine guys was even more difficult."
• Here's Kinnear's team on the night: Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Patrick Ianni, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario (Corey Ashe 79), Richard Mulrooney, Brian Mullan, Nate Jaqua (Chris Wondolowski 91), Joseph Ngwenya, Brian Ching. Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Ricardo Clark, John Michael Hayden, Mike Sambursky, Zach Wells
• "We haven't been beaten in SuperLiga. We've played four tough teams -- Club America, Morelia, D.C. United and Pachuca -- and Pachuca took us to penalty kicks to beat us. I thought the effort tonight was fantastic," Kinnear said.
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas extended their league unbeaten streak in dramatic fashion, taking over the top spot in the Western Conference and in the MLS overall table with a 3-2 victory against the Columbus Crew last Saturday at Pizza Hut Park. The Hoops now have 36 points from 20 matches, two ahead of Houston Dynamo (with a game in hand) in the West, and level with the New England Revolution in the race for the Supporters' Shield.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas came into the game riding a five-game unbeaten streak in league play, having also moved onto the U.S. Open Cup semifinals at midweek, while the Columbus Crew had lost just once over their previous nine games in league play.
• The Crew dominated from the outset, and in the midst of a long string of corner kicks took a sixth-minute lead. Guillermo Barros Schelotto swung in the service from the right and Marcos Gonzalez headed home at the near post for his first goal with the Crew.
• But the home side fought their way back into the game and pulled level on the hour mark. Dominic Oduro pulled back a cross from the left corner, and after it hit off a defender, Arturo Alvarez quickly controlled it and slapped a shot inside the right-hand post for his fifth goal for the club in the last six games in all competitions.
• Columbus regained the lead in the 74th minute. As Frankie Hejduk tried to turn the corner on the right side of the area, he was hauled down by Chris Gbandi and a penalty kick awarded. Andy Herron drove the spot kick high into the center of the goal for his first goal since May 26.
• Yet just six minutes later the Hoops again pulled level. Marcelo Saragosa swung in a neat cross from the left corner of the area and Carlos Ruiz rose up to power home a trademark header, his second goal in three league games after going 15 contests in MLS play without a goal.
• But literally from the ensuing kickoff, Saragosa was sent off as he hit Crew midfielder Ned Grabavoy with an elbow, referee Jorge Gonzalez showing the Brazilian a straight red card.
• Still, it was FC Dallas that hit for the game-winner. Dax McCarty put in a corner kick from the right and Clarence Goodson slipped in unmarked to snap home a header at the near post for his first goal on the campaign and the dramatic winner.
• FCD head coach Steve Morrow made two changes to the team that defeated the Colorado Rapids 1-0 at home the previous Saturday. With Juan Toja suspended, Marcelo Saragosa came back into the team, while Abe Thompson made the start up top in place of Dominic Oduro.
• Here's Morrow's team (4-4-2): Ray Burse - Drew Moor, Adrian Serioux (Aaron Pitchkolan 20), Clarence Goodson, Chris Gbandi - Arturo Alvarez, Pablo Ricchetti (Ricardinho 77), Marcelo Saragosa, Dax McCarty - Carlos Ruiz, Abe Thompson (Dominic Oduro 46). Substitutes Not Used: Michael Dello-Russo, Boris Pardo, Bobby Rhine, David Wagenfuhr
• "We were a little bit tired in the first half and came out a little bit sleeping. I thought we deserved to be a goal down. It woke us up a little bit. We gave up a bad penalty as well which I was disappointed with. We were definitely gaining momentum in the game and Marcelo [Saragosa] got a red card as well," Morrow said. "Nothing but praise and credit for the boys. I thought it was a great comeback. To come back 3-2 with 10 men is just a fantastic effort."
TEAM NEWS
• Saturday's win was reminiscent of the 3-3 tie that FCD had with D.C. United on July 14, a game in which they trailed 3-0 early in the second half and stormed back to claim a point in the nation's capital.
• "I think we've had quite a few of those this season. We've come back before and fought hard to get good results. I thought it was an important game for us tonight. We're two-thirds of the way done with the season and have just 10 games left," Morrow said. "We wanted to get a good win at home tonight and knew we had a chance to go on top of the league as well. That was very much on our minds heading into tonight's game. We're on a good run in the league now. I think it's now six games that we're unbeaten in and we want to continue that."
• The Hoops came into the match without midfielder Juan Toja, who suffered a high ankle sprain in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against Charleston on Tuesday. He is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.
• "We didn't notice or talk about it too much before the game," Morrow said. "The guys who stepped in and played did a good job. It wasn't on our mind at all that we would miss him or that it would affect us too much. We got on with it and scored three goals without him, so we didn't miss him too much."
• Still, there were some down notes on the evening for the Hoops. Center back Adrian Serioux left the game in the 20th with a left hamstring strain, while midfielder Pablo Ricchetti left the match in the 77th with a left Achilles injury. Serioux is not expected to be available for the Houston match.
• Clarence Goodson scored for the second successive match - he also had a goal in the Open Cup win in Charleston. His goal against the Crew was his first MLS regular season goal since July 27, 2005.
• Dax McCarty set up the goal with his free kick, his team-leading sixth assist on the season. In league play, McCarty's last three assists have come on deadball situations, two from free kicks and Saturday's corner.
• "He's putting it in good spots and areas where we can just go and attack it," Goodson said. "We have guys spaced out properly and no matter where the ball goes in that six-yard area between the six-yard zone and the penalty spot, we're all over it."
• "I thought he's been dangerous on set plays lately," said Morrow of Goodson. "The last few games, he has been getting his head on things and looks very dangerous. He's playing with a lot of confidence right now. His all-around game has been fantastic. I'm really, really pleased for him. He deserved the game-winner."
• On Wednesday, FCD sent midfielder Ramon Nuñez to Chivas USA, in exchange for a conditional third-round selection in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.
