The Houston Dynamo Reserves cruised to a comprehensive 4-0 win over the Colorado Rapids Reserves Sunday morning at Robertson Stadium behind two goals and an assist from forward Kyle Brown. Houston improved to 2-0-1 and moved into first place in the MLS Reserve Division Western Conference.
Houston took an early 1-0 lead with a slick passing sequence that went from Geoff Cameron on the right to Nick Hatzke in the middle to Corey Ashe on the left, and Ashe crossed for Brown to head home at the near post in the 10th minute.
The Dynamo doubled their lead just five minutes later, and Brown and Hatzke were at the heart of it once again. Chris Wondolowski took a throw-in from the right sideline, and Brown flicked a header into the box to an onrushing Hatzke, who slotted past goalkeeper Chris Sharpe to make it 2-0.
In the second half, Houston added to its lead just four minutes in when Cameron unleashed a stinging shot from the edge of the area that Sharpe saved, only to see Brown tap in the rebound for his second goal.
Although Brown had several chances for a hat trick go unfulfilled, Houston did get a fourth goal when Erik Ustruck fired in the rebound of a shot off the post in the 80th minute. The Dynamo finished the game with 10 men after defender Mike Chabala was ejected for picking up a second yellow card in the 81st minute.
Houston goalkeeper Tony Caig made three saves for his first Reserve Division shutout, while Sharpe finished with four saves for Colorado.
Colorado Rapids
(0-1-2)
vs. Houston Dynamo
(2-0-1)
May 11, 2008 -- Robertson Stadium
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Kyle Brown 1 (Corey Ashe 1, Nick Hatzke 1) 10
HOU -- Nick Hatzke 1 (Kyle Brown 1, Erik Ustruck 1) 15
HOU -- Kyle Brown 2 (unassisted) 49
HOU -- Erik Ustruck 1 (unassisted) 80
Colorado Rapids -- Chris Sharpe, Kelly Gray (Dan Antunez 72), Tim Ward, Stephen Keel, Jose Burciaga Jr., Ciaran O'Brien, Rafael Gomes, Mehdi Ballouchy, Colin Clark, Herculez Gomez (Cesar Zambrano 59), Conor Casey (Brian Grazier 37).
Substitutes Not Used: A.J. Kurtz, Tom McManus.
Houston Dynamo -- Tony Caig, Erik Ustruck, Craig Waibel, Patrick Ianni, Mike Chabala, Geoff Cameron (Stephen Wondolowski 79), Nick Hatzke, John Michael Hayden, Corey Ashe, Kyle Brown, Chris Wondolowski.
Substitutes Not Used: Johnny Alcaraz, James Georgeff, Guy-Roland Kpene, Craig Thompson, Corbin Waller.
Misconduct Summary:
HOU -- Mike Chabala (caution) 1
COL -- Jose Burciaga Jr. (caution) 36
HOU -- Patrick Ianni (caution) 53
HOU -- Mike Chabala (ejection; second caution) 81
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
