The Houston Dynamo earned a hard-fought, 1-0 victory against Chivas USA tonight, to continue unbeaten in the Texas Pro Soccer Festival.
Dwayne De Rosario broke the scoreless tie at the 12th minute of play. Chris Wondolowski played a ball to De Rosario in the middle of the field. It was then that the Canadian international blasted a 30-yard shot to the upper right-hand corner of Chivas goalkeeper Lance Parker for the 1-0 advantage.
Brad Davis almost increased the advantage for the Men in Orange at the 14th minute of play with a nicely-placed free kick that went just past Parker's left post. Richard Mulrooney, (18th minute), and Brian Ching (26th minute) also had solid scoring chances during the first half.
In Tony Caig's debut on goal for Houston, Chivas nearly tied up the score at the 33rd minute of play, with a header by Justin Braun that went just over Caig's reach. Wade Barrett, however, made sure the Goats stayed scoreless, heading the ball out of bounds.
The Dynamo made a total of nine substitutions to start the second half, one of them being Argentinean forward Franco Caraccio. Both teams struggled for field supremacy until the 67th minute, when Chukwudi Chijindu had another opportunity to get his team on the board with a hard, low shot to Caig's left post. Caig, however, was able to get a hand on the ball to keep the Goats scoreless.
Chivas had one more chance at the 83rd minute, on a header by Arnaldo Salazar off a corner kick. Luck, however, did not have it so for Chivas, as the ball hit the cross bar.
Up next for the Dynamo is the final contest of the Texas Pro Soccer Festival against D.C. United. That contest is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 9 at Steele Stadium. The team will then head to Guatemala on Monday to take on CSD Municipal on Wednesday, as part of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Chivas USA: Lance Parker, Bobby Burling, Shavar Thomas, Jim Curtin (Ebert, 46'), Jonathan Bornstein (Flores, 46') Kraig Chiles (Uremovich, 46') Jesse Marsch (Paladini, 46'), Chukwudi Chijindu, Lawson Vaughn (Mayen, 46'), Atiba Harris (Hamilton, 46') Justin Braun (Salazar, 74').
Houston Dynamo: Tony Caig, Richard Mulrooney (Waibel, 46'), Bobby Boswell (Cameron, 46'), Eddie Robinson (Wondolowski, 46'), Wade Barrett (Alcaraz, 62') Ricardo Clark (Hall, 46', Mullan, 81'), Brad Davis (Ustruck, 38') Dwayne De Rosario (Hatzke, 46'), Corey Ashe (Hayden, 46') Chris Wondolowski (Kyle Brown, 46'), Brian Ching (Caraccio, 46').
Scoring Summary:
HOU: De Rosario (C. Wondolowski), 12'
Attendance: 600
Weather: Clear, 52 degrees.
