Forward Franco Caraccio's goal midway through the second half sent Houston Dynamo on their way, as they finished the Texas Pro Soccer Festival unbeaten and claimed the tournament championship following a 1-1 draw Sunday afternoon at Steele High School.
Hampered by windy conditions, neither team could find the net in the opening 45 minutes, and with big international matches ahead for both clubs at midweek, both United coach Tom Soehn and Dynamo boss Dominic Kinnear made wholesale changes at halftime.
The moves paid off first for Kinnear. In the 53rd minute, John Michael Hayden took a free kick that D.C. United goalkeeper Jose Carvallo punched inside the box. Caraccio collected the loose ball and pushed it into the back of the net, his first goal in a Dynamo uniform.
A late goal from trialist Cezar pulled United level. Justin Moose found Jamil Walker on the right, who then sent a cross to the back post and into the sights of Cezar. He sent a diving header over the outstretched arms of Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad and into the far side of the goal for the 78th-minute leveller.
Even though both teams finished the three-game tournament without a loss, Houston won the championship of the Texas Pro Soccer Festival by outscoring D.C. United 6-4 in the tournament.
The two teams now face their opening legs of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarterfinals this week. Dynamo travel to Guatemala City's Estadio Mateo Flores to take on CSD Municipal (9 p.m. CT), while United will go to Kingston, Jamaica and take on Harbour View FC (8 p.m. ET). Both matches will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel.
Houston Dynamo 1, D.C. United 1
HOU -- Franco Caraccio (unassisted) 53'
DC -- Cezar (Jamil Walker, Justin Moose) 78'
D.C. United: Zach Wells (Jose Carvallo 46); Marc Burch (Galen Thompson 46), Domenic Mediate (Pat Carroll 46), Gonzalo Peralta (Dane Murphey 46), Bryan Namoff (Quavas Kirk 46); Fred (Ryan Cordeiro 46), Clyde Simms (Justin Moose 46), Rod Dyachenko (Santino Quaranta 72), Devon McTavish (Jamil Walker 46); Jaime Moreno (Cezar 46), Luciano Emilio (Guy-Roland Kpene 46).
Houston Dynamo: Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel (Brian Mullan 67), Eddie Robinson (Stephen Wondolowski 46) Bobby Boswell (Johnny Alcaraz 46) Wade Barrett (Geoff Cameron 46) Richard Mulrooney (John Michael Hayden 46) Ricardo Clark (Nick Hatzke 46), Dwayne De Rosario (Erik Ustruck 46) Corey Ashe (Kieran Hall 46), Chris Wondolowski (Franco Caraccio 46), Brian Ching (Kyle Brown 46).
