Getting a goal last Saturday against Chivas USA was important for Houston Dynamo. Getting the win was even more important.
When Dynamo return to the field against the New York Red Bulls this Saturday at Giants Stadium, they will be looking to continue their winning streak. But, in order to do that, Houston knows it is crucial it halts a trend over its first two games -- a slow start.
"We need to come out better," said head coach Dominic Kinnear. "I think the first game you can point to Charleston (at the preseason Carolina Challenge Cup) and Pachuca (in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup). That Pachuca game was emotionally and physically draining. The second game we didn't come out as sharp as we'd liked. It was a disappointed lockerroom at halftime, which you like to see.
"For us it's preparation before the game. Being ready in the warmup for when the whistle blows. The guys have done that quite a lot. The last two weeks we have come out a little slow, and certain guys have stepped up to create major problems. It's just a point of as a unit, everyone, their first touch, their first tackle, their movement is positive."
Dynamo took only two shots in the first half Saturday against Chivas, with the first one coming in the 29th minute. Neither of the shots were on goal.
Forward Brian Ching, who scored Dynamo's first goal of the season in the 65th minute, knows what a quick start could do for his side.
"It would create a lot more opportunities," Ching said. "I don't think we created any opportunities in the first half or any shots on goal last game. It's something that's been happening for like the last four or five games, so I don't know what it is, but it's something that we are all aware of and something that we all want to work on. We've been fortunate not to go down a couple goals in the past couple games. A good start will give us a better shot of winning these games."
The Orange are very familiar with the Red Bulls as the two teams met several times in the preseason, including the Carolina Challenge Cup where Dynamo defeated New York 2-1. Despite the familiarity, the Dynamo are taking the Red Bulls as a different team than in the preseason.
"You can only go from what you saw the week before," Kinnear said. "I think the preseason is exactly that, preseason games. They line up with a lot of players we are familiar with. Obviously, Clint Mathis had a very good evening against Dallas. He seems to have found his groove again, and when he's confident, he's very dangerous. Definitely, he's a person we have to watch out for."
New York is coming off a 3-0 win against FC Dallas where Mathis scored two goals. Last year, Houston and New York tied both matches 1-1.
After last week's 1-0 win, Dynamo pushed their shutout streak to 180 minutes. Team defense has been good and goalkeeper Pat Onstad has played well, Kinnear said. But, the Dynamo don't want to give the Red Bulls as many chances as they allotted Chivas and Los Angeles.
"We've definitely given up chances, but fortunately, when we've given up chances, Pat has been there for the save," said defender Wade Barrett. "It's good that we've had the shutouts the first two games, but we have to keep working to try to limit as many chances as possible."
After earning four points in two home matches, Dynamo will be looking to get their road schedule off on a good note.
"We have come off two good games results-wise," Kinnear said. "We got four out of six points, so we're confident as we go in there. We had a decent record on the road last year, so we pride ourselves in going out there and winning every game and that will be our approach."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
