In a rematch of last season's Western Conference Semifinals, Brian Ching scored Houston Dynamo's first goal of the season and goalkeeper Pat Onstad had five saves to lead the defending MLS Cup champions to a 1-0 win against Chivas USA Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.
Houston finally got its first goal of the season on a header by Ching in the 64th minute. Brad Davis knocked a free kick into the center of the box where an unmarked Ching headed it past Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
The night began with Dynamo receiving their championship rings from a season ago, where the road to the MLS Cup victory started with a victory against Chivas, a 2-1 loss in California followed by a 2-0 victory in Houston to claim the series on aggregate goals.
There were still some hard feelings from that series; in the 12th minute, Houston's Brian Mullan was given a yellow card for a hard tackle on Chivas USA striker Maykel Galindo.
In the 31st minute, Chivas USA's Ante Razov was issued a yellow card, and in the 42nd minute, a yellow card was issued to Chivas USA's Claudio Suarez for a hard tackle. In all there were four bookings on the night, as Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson received a yellow card in the second half.
On the scoreboard, Chivas nearly got off to a terrific start as Razov took a shot 20 seconds in, but it was stopped by Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
In the 21st minute, Galindo missed a shot high after getting a centering pass from Jonathan Bornstein. A minute later, Razov took a shot from the top of the box, but Dynamo's Craig Waibel stopped the shot just inside the near post.
Galindo took another shot from the left in the 30th minute, but Onstad made another save. In the 35th minute, the Goats saw their best chance to score when Francisco Mendoza threaded the needle with a pass through two defenders to Bornstein, but his shot from the center was saved by a diving Onstad.
Houston got its first shot off in the 29th minute when a Davis shot from the left side went high. The only other effort at goal Dynamo had in the first half was taken by Paul Dalglish in the 38th minute, but it went wide.
Neither goalkeeper was tested after the halftime break until Suarez fouled Dalglish near the right touchline. Davis swung in his left-footed service, and Ching rose up alone to head past a flat-footed Guzan.
The Dynamo tried to tack on more, but a shot by Dwayne de Rosario hit the left post in the 78th minute after going wide in the 69th minute. Before his winning goal, Ching had a shot in the 62nd minute go right, and Kelly Gray had a shot from the right go high.
Chivas USA pressed for a late equalizer, but an attempt by Galindo in the 73rd minute went high, and in the 80th minute a chance by John Cunliffe was saved by Onstad.
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
