and prove disastrous, the deficit could very well be a spark for the early-game energy Dynamo have become known for.
"It's been a trademark of this team for years, probably going back to even the first year when Frank [Yallop] took over [the then-San Jose Earthquakes]," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "Coming out of the locker room, for us to try to get going and put them under pressure and play in their half more than in midfield or in our half, it could be an important feature of the game."
With attacking pressure must come responsibility, though. In his weekly Q&A with fans on the official club Web site, HoustonDynamo.com, Kinnear stressed that his team must keep its shape when pushing forward.
There are a score of players on the other side -- Ante Razov, Juan Francisco Palencia, Juan Pablo Garcia and Francisco Mendoza spring to mind -- who would love to exploit any gaps Dynamo leave open. One counterattack could spell the end to Dynamo's season. That's not to say a goal allowed is equivalent to a death knell.
"We don't want to go down two goals," Onstad said, "but the one nice thing about our team is I think we're capable of coming back from being down two goals. So if it gets to that stage, if that does happen, I don't think it's anything where we'll drop our heads. We'll just keep going at it."
After being down two goals late in last weekend's first leg, the Orange had several chances to equalize before 90 minutes had expired.
Before Chivas scored their second goal, Dynamo forward Brian Ching had an appeal for a penalty denied, and when it was 2-1 with five minutes remaining, midfielder Dwayne De Rosario had a penalty kick attempt saved by Chivas 'keeper Brad Guzan.
The game was just the latest of several where luck didn't appear to be on Dynamo's side.
"I don't think we've had the breaks, but at the same time, I'm a big believer that you make your own breaks," Onstad said. "At times this year we haven't played particularly well and probably weren't deserving of the breaks."
Onstad puts a lot of the mistakes Dynamo have made this season, and the occasional subpar performance, down to pressure. All year, he said, he and his teammates have sometimes gotten caught up in trying to match their feats of a year ago, when as the Earthquakes they went undefeated at home and lost just four games while earning a league-high 64 points.
As Onstad admits, the problem with aspiring to recreate last season is that the Quakes were knocked out of the MLS Cup Playoffs at the first hurdle.
"Most importantly, for us to be good, we have to enjoy the game. At times this season, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we weren't really enjoying it as a team," Onstad said. "I think we're trying to do too much. You get caught in the -- and I'm as guilty as anybody in the locker room -- 'Oh last year we did this. Last year we did that.'
"Well, I hate to break it to myself and everyone that we're now 34 games removed from last year, and last year we also got knocked out in the first round."
If Dynamo are going to repeat history, they'll want to look at the four Conference Semifinal Series -- out of 12 since the 2003 season -- where a team trailing after the first leg came back to win in the second.
One of those four was the Quakes' epic four-goal comeback against the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2003. Another was the Kansas City Wizards' 3-0 second-leg victory that erased a two-goal deficit against the Quakes in 2004. Since Dynamo's players and coaches have seen both sides of the comeback coin, they know nothing has been decided yet.
"I think we have the firepower going in. We do know that we have the weapons to erase the deficit," Kinnear said. "If we didn't think there was a chance for us to win, the comments after the game and during this week would all be somewhat negative or a little bit cautious.
"We don't really talk about being down. Obviously, we know what situation is. We know we're down by a goal and we're losing, but we're looking at this saying, 'Hey, you know what? We need to win this game.'"
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
