CHARLESTON, S.C. — It was the tale of two halves for the Houston Dynamo in the finale of the Carolina Challenge Cup on Saturday against the New York Red Bulls.
Needing a win to capture its third consecutive CCC title (once as San Jose in 2005), Houston went into the dressing room at halftime down a goal after a less than stellar first-half performance. In the second half, Dynamo came out looking like the team in contention for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, getting goals from Brian Ching and Alejandro Moreno to top the Red Bulls 2-1.
Had the Orange tied or lost to New York, Toronto FC, after a strong 3-0 win against the Charleston Battery earlier in the night, would have claimed the tournament crown. In the history of the tournament, every winner has gone on to win at least one of the two major MLS trophies.
Things did not look good for Dynamo early. Sloppy play in the back led to a Dave van den Bergh goal in the sixth minute. Van den Bergh slammed home a loose ball in the penalty area after a mix-up while the majority of the Dynamo defense stood stunned.
For the remainder of the half Dynamo tried to regroup, while keeping the speedy Red Bulls flank players at bay.
In the 25th minute Josmer Altidore nearly doubled the score outpacing defender Eddie Robinson to run onto a bouncing ball just outside the penalty area. Misjudging Altidore's speed, Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad raced off his line, and was lucky to surprise Altidore before he could get a clean shot off.
It wasn't until the end of the first half that the Orange begin to get a grip on the game. That was helped when New York's Dema Kovalenko was ejected after receiving his second caution in the half for a crunching two-footed tackle on Brian Mullan. Playing a man down, the Red Bulls struggled to maintain the run of play through the remainder of the half.
"The boys knew what they had to do in the second half," said Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear. "They saw where the adjustments needed to be made and took care of them themselves."
But it being a preseason tournament, the Red Bulls began the second half with 11 players on the field. It has become a bit of a tradition at the Carolina Challenge Cup. Last year, Houston had two players ejected in the first half of a game against D.C. United, but played at full strength in the second half.
It wouldn't have mattered if the Red Bulls had 13 on the field. Houston took control of the game early in the second half, and kept control throughout, pressuring the New York back line by coming up through the middle in well-disciplined surges.
Ching leveled the score in the 70th minute off a perfectly placed Brad Davis cross from the left flank. The ball came from the hard work of midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who won the ball in his own half and found Davis floating up the line. In typical Ching fashion, the U.S. international forcefully headed the ball past a helpless Ronald Waterreus.
New York did not, however, roll over and die. Through the inspired play of Clint Mathis, who joined his new team less than 24 hours before and came on at halftime, the Red Bulls created several promising attacks but could not connect the final pass.
Ten minutes after Ching's goal, the New York defense broke down again, handing De Rosario the ball on the right side of the field 20 yards from goal. De Rosario dribbled past two Red Bulls defenders and drove a low cross to a waiting Moreno. Moreno let the ball run through his legs and back-heeled the ball in for the game winner.
"It was a good win, especially going into Pachuca next week," Kinnear said. "We did what we came here to do, win the tournament, and we did what we came here to do."
On Thursday, Houston takes on Pachuca in the return leg of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinals. New York opens the season on Saturday at Columbus.
HOUSTON DYNAMO 2, NEW YORK RED BULLS 1
Houston: Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan (Stuart Holden 81), Dwayne De Rosario, Kelly Gray, Brad Davis, Paul Danglish (Alejandro Moreno 68), Brian Ching.
New York: Ronald Waterreus, Todd Dunivant, Seth Stammler, Carlos Mendes (Hunter Freeman 68), Marvell Wynne, Dane Richards, Dave van den Bergh (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 81), Dema Kovalenko (Jeff Parke 46), Claudio Reyna, John Wolyniec (Clint Mathis 46), Jozy Altidore.
Scoring Summary:
NY — van den Bergh 6
HOU — Ching (Davis) 70
HOU — Moreno (De Rosario) 80
Misconduct Summary:
HOU — Ching 30 (caution)
NYRB — Kovalenko 39 (caution)
NYRB — Kovalenko 42 (ejection)
HOU — Cochrane 60 (caution)
HOU — Robinson 68 (caution)
HOU — De Rosario 68 (caution)
HOU — Davis 86 (caution)
