The Texas Pro Soccer Fest officially kicked off on Wednesday night, as Houston Dynamo and D.C. United got off to a winning start by notching one-goal victories against Toronto FC and Chivas USA respectively.
Houston Dynamo 4, Toronto FC 3
The fans in attendance in Cibolo were treated to a goalfest in the opener, as Houston fended off a late Toronto charge to pick up the win.
Dynamo got off to a flying start, scoring inside three minutes through a header by Chris Wondolowski, who started up front with Brian Ching.
After Dynamo's opening salvo, the game settled down for much of the next 15 minutes, but the action picked up once again near the 20-minute mark, as the Dynamo started to press for a second goal.
However, it was Toronto who produced the game's second goal and level matters in the 36th minute, as on-trial midfielder Kiki Musampa headed in a cross from Jim Brennan.
That strike set off a three-goal flurry before the halftime whistle, and unfortunately for Toronto, the other two goals were put on the board by Houston's Ching in a three-minute span.
In the 42nd, the veteran striker put Houston ahead once again when he headed in from close range off of a Brad Davis corner.
Two minutes later, Ching broke loose behind the Toronto defense, and Greg Sutton was powerless to a ferocious shot that rocketed into the top left corner to give Houston a two-goal cushion heading into the locker room.
When Eric Ustruck struck shortly after the second half restart to make it a three-goal advantage, it looked like Houston had the win all but wrapped up, especially as the game wound down towards the final 20 minutes.
However, in the end, Houston would need all four goals, as Toronto found the net twice through two more trialists to make things interesting. English midfielder Martin Brittain netted a penalty in the 71st, and French striker Tony Vairelles trimmed the deficit to one with his 80th-minute header, but that would be as close as Toronto would get.
Houston coach Dominic Kinnear was pleased with the result, for the most part.
"To be sitting out there 3-1 at halftime, and we come out again and show that we're still looking for goals shows that the action was good," Kinnear said. "Obviously we made some mistakes defensively, and those we'll address after the game, and hope those mistakes don't happen again."
Toronto FC coach John Carver was very upset with his team after the first-half performance, but felt it righted things after the break.
"I was disappointed that we conceded three goals from set plays. I came in at halftime and had a right go at them because we weren't getting close enough and we got a good reaction from it," Carver said. "But we were a lot better (in the second half) we were a lot higher up the field, we got closer to players and we pressed the ball better and the pleasing thing is they showed a bit of character."
Houston Dynamo 4, Toronto FC 3
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Chris Wondolowski (Craig Waibel) 3)
TOR -- Kiki Musampa (Jim Brennan, Jeff Cunningham) 36
HOU -- Brian Ching (Brad Davis) 42
HOU -- Brian Ching (Craig Wailbel) 44
HOU -- Eric Ustruck (Brad Davis) 47
TOR -- Martin Brittain (penalty kick) 71
TOR -- Tony Vairelles (Jim Brennan) 81
Houston Dynamo: Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel (James Georgeff 46), Bobby Boswell (Nick Hatzke 46), Eddie Robinson (John Michael Hayden 46), Wade Barrett (Stephen Wondolowski 46), Corey Ashe, Richard Mulrooney (Johnny Alcaraz 46), Ricardo Clark (Geoff Cameron 46), Brad Davis (Kieran Hall 66), Chris Wondolowski, Brian Ching (Erik Ustruck 46).
Toronto FC: Greg Sutton, Pat Phelan, Tyrone Marshall, Andrew Boyens, Jim Brennan, Collin Samuel, Kiki Musampa, Joey Melo, Martin Brittain, Jeff Cunningham, Danny Dichio (Tony Vairelles 57).
D.C. United 2, Chivas USA
Just as in the first match, it was a goal-packed first half in the late-evening match between last year's Supporters' Shield winner and runner-up.
In the first ten minutes, D.C. United had the best chances to open the scoring, but Chivas took the lead with 13 minutes gone. D.C. couldn't clear the ball in their end, and young striker Jorge Flores made them pay the penalty, slotting home from close range to send the sizable Chivas contingent into a frenzy.
But that lead would be short-lived, as winger Quavas Kirk equalized for D.C. mere minutes later, and just before the half hour, D.C. went ahead through Cezar Hermenegildo, off an assist from Franco Niell.
From there on out, there weren't to be any more goals. Much of the action between the two sides came in their tense morning scrimmage, which featured the majority of each team's starters, and finished with an identical 2-1 scoreline.
Despite the defeat, Chivas coach Preki felt satisfied about how the night went.
"We're happy with the way the game went, obviously not with the result, but right now, we don't care about results. We played the way we wanted to play, and we're happy with it," he said.
But, he acknowledges that there were some mistakes on his side's part. "Give the other team credit -- we made a few mistakes, and on this level, you can't mistakes. If you make mistakes, you'll get punished."
The series continues at Cibolo's Steele High School on Friday night, with D.C. United taking on Toronto at 6 p.m., and Houston facing Chivas USA in the nightcap at 8:30.
D.C. United 2, Chivas USA 1
Scoring Summary
CHV -- Jorge Flores 13
DC -- Quavas Kirk (Justin Moose) 16
DC -- Cezar Hermenegildo (Franco Niell) 27
Chivas USA: Lance Parker; Gerson Mayen, Shavar Thomas, Bobby Burling, Eric Ebert; Jorge Flores, Daniel Paladini, Kraig Chiles, Keith Savage (Chukwudi Chijindu 62); Justin Braun, Anthony Hamilton (Arnaldo Salazar 84).
D.C. United: Jose Carvallo; Quavas Kirk (Galen Thompson 86), Domenic Mediate, Pat Carroll, Ryan Cordeiro; Justin Moose (David Blumer 86), Dan Stratford (Dane Murphy 76), Rod Dyachenko, Santino Quaranta (Josh Gardner 33); Franco Niell (Guy-Roland Kpene 59), Cezar Hermenegildo (Jamil Walker 67).
Eddie Griffin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
