only to turn it over his own goalkeeper and into the net.
• While he made a change to his tactics, RSL head coach Jason Kreis kept his team the same as the one that posted a 2-1 victory against the New England Revolution the weekend before.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando - Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert - Dema Kovalenko, Kyle Beckerman - Andy Williams (Kenny Cutler 80), Javier Morales, Robbie Findley (Tino Nunez 69) - Kenny Deuchar (Yura Movsisyan 69). Substitutes Not Used: Matias Cordoba, Ian Joy, Matias Mantilla, Chris Seitz
• "I thought we did all the necessary stuff that you need to to pick up a result on the road. I thought we were together, we worked very hard and we created enough chances to score that goal that would have taken us over the top," said Kreis. "In the end, the quality, the touch wasn't there and we paid for it."
TEAM NEWS
• The loss snapped RSL's unbeaten streak at five games, matching the club record set twice earlier, from July 26-Aug. 19, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2006 to April 14, 2007.
• "It's hard for us to feel satisfied," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "This is another game where you have to feel like you dropped a point. If we're a little more focused for the last couple of minutes, we pick up a point. That's happened too often to us this year."
• In addition, with a victory, RSL would have found themselves in first place in the Western Conference for the first time in club history. Earlier this season, RSL had that opportunity, but lost 2-0 to the Colorado Rapids. After that loss, Kreis felt his team didn't deserve to be in first place after the way they responded to the challenge.
• "I thought that Kansas City came out very aggressively tonight. It is a fair result to be honest because they created the majority of the chances. It was a typical away game for us," Kreis said.
• RSL is tied for the worst road record in MLS, with one win and no draws in seven outings. Their four goals on the road are fewest in the league.
• "The offense, the chances are there. And it's tough away from home because they catch you more reserved than when you're playing at home and you have the crowd behind you," Beltran said. "I think we have to let the scoring happen. We can't force it. We have very talented forwards and the goals will come."
• As they have done a couple of times on the road, Kreis started the game with Deuchar as the lone out-and-out striker and Robbie Findley in a wide role on the left.
• "We started off the first half with just one on top, so chances were at a premium," Deuchar said. "The second half we were in more of attacking (mode)."
• Kreis said his team faced a challenge with dealing with Wizards playmaker Claudio Lopez - in advance of facing another in the Dynamo's Dwayne De Rosario.
• "I wouldn't say that tactically they did anything that really put us back on our heels," Kreis said. "I would say that Lopez was extremely dangerous for them tonight. When we turned the ball over, I thought he was finding spaces that were very dangerous for us. I don't think we were mindful enough of where he was tonight."
HOUSTON DYNAMO
FC Dallas ensured they would lay claim to the season series with in-state rival Houston Dynamo for the first time, after the teams played to a 1-1 draw on MLS Primetime Thursday. The Dynamo sit tied for second place in the Western Conference with 19 points from 15 matches, level with Real Salt Lake, two points behind the division-leading Los Angeles Galaxy.
LAST MATCH
• Houston Dynamo were back home after a scoreless draw with Colorado, while FC Dallas saw the Schellas Hyndman era kick off with a loss in New York. The teams were battling for El Capitan, the prize on offer for the winner of the season series, after playing to two dramatic draws in their first two meetings.
• The Dynamo took the lead after 21 minutes. Craig Waibel took a pass on the right flank and carved out enough time to pick out Brian Ching breaking toward goal, and dropped a cross perfectly on his head for the U.S. international to nod home for his sixth goal on the year.
• But FC Dallas drew level in the 62nd minute. Juan Toja whipped in an early cross from the left flank and Kenny Cooper rose up completely unmarked in the heart of the area to send a glancing header inside the right-hand post for his eighth goal of 2008 and the equalizer.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that played to a scoreless draw with the Colorado Rapids the previous weekend. Patrick Ianni came into central defense for the injured Eddie Robinson, and Dwayne De Rosario returned to the starting lineup, in place of Corey Ashe.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel, Bobby Boswell, Patrick Ianni, Wade Barrett - Brian Mullan (Geoff Cameron 84), Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 91+) - Stuart Holden - Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Ching. Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Brown, Chris Wondolowski, Tony Caig, Franco Caraccio, Richard Mulrooney
• "The game is a sour point for us. I thought we had more than enough chances in the first few minutes to possibly put the game out of reach. We were in good situations and had good chances. To get a tie out of it, we are not happy," Kinnear said. "The guys are disappointed, as we should be. At the halfway point [of the season], I don't think we are getting as many points as we want or need."
TEAM NEWS
• The Dynamo have failed to score more than one goal in nine of their 15 league matches, winning just one of them (May 31 vs. New York). They have a league-high seven ties on the season.
• "With the chances we had and keep having, we need to score goals," Kinnear said. "And we didn't. And that is why we could win. I thought we were pretty were pretty good defensively, but sometimes you need more than one goal to win and we did not get them."
• Equally frustrating has been the other end of the park. After a record-setting season a year ago where they allowed just 23 goals all year, the Orange have conceded 19 this season, tied for seventh in MLS. They have posted four shutouts defensively - and three of those have come in scoreless draws.
• "You look at our team and what has made us successful the past couple of years. It's defense," Brian Ching said. "We have been one of the best defensive, if not the best, defensive team in the league. But now we've got guys letting in mistakes. They are making big mistakes and costing us games. It's the same guys costing us 3-4 games, so it's disappointing."
• "Why are we losing games? We are making mistakes and we aren't punishing teams for theirs," Kinnear said. "We have seven ties, and we have come out with more points that we have lost, but that is the reality of our situation. But it's important for us to start winning games."
• Thursday's game will be the last league match for Houston for nearly three weeks, as they begin their SuperLiga run for another season. Were it not for the rescheduling of the D.C. United game abandoned after 16 minutes for July 22, it would be the last MLS game for an entire month.
• "If you just go back and watch every team that has played us, it's their best game, it's their biggest game. I don't think we have done a great job handling that kind of pressure, but at the same time, we only have four losses," Craig Waibel said. I am hesitant to go too far into it, but I will say, without insulting any other team, or having it sound like I am taking shots at other teams, that I think this team is disappointed being in second place. That right there tells you the character and the expectations that we have set for ourselves."
• On Tuesday, the Dynamo crashed out of the U.S. Open Cup at the feet of the USL-1 Charleston Battery for the second successive year. A Marco Reda goal gave the Battery a 31st-minute lead, and after Charleston's Chris Corcoran was sent off in the 74th minute, Stephen Wondolowski hit for the equalizer in the 89th minute. Reda was sent off in extra time, but the Battery survived to a penalty shootout, which they won 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
• Here's Kinnear's team: Tony Caig, Erik Ustruck (Johnny Alcaraz 81), Geoff Cameron, Steve Wondolowski, Mike Chabala, Chris Wondolowski, Nick Hatzke (Stuart Holden 98), John Michael Hayden, Corey Ashe, Kyle Brown, Franco Caraccio.
• "Let's be honest, there's always a possibility for a game like this to get into overtime," said Houston coach Dominic Kinnear. "So, you could be looking at 120 minutes for some guys and 90 minutes again on Thursday night. That plus a long travel day makes it tough and I think you put some players health at risk. Because of our game on Thursday, this is the way we approached it."
