Houston Dynamo will finally get a chance to rest, but they have to get through Saturday's game against Real Salt Lake before the club can enjoy a week with only one game.
Saturday's game in Utah will be the fifth in 14 days for the defending MLS Cup champions. It will also be the first of three meetings this season between Houston and RSL.
But the club isn't thinking about rest quite yet because Dynamo know they still have a game to play.
"This will be the fifth in 14 days, so for us, I think it's important that we get communication right during the game, and that we talk and help each other because we know we are going to be tired during the game," said Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad. "There's no way around it. It's a good chance for us to gain some points on the road. We know Salt Lake will be up for it. It should be a good, tough match."
Dynamo will go into Saturday's game with just one loss in their last 15 games. In MLS play, Houston has an 11-game unbeaten streak, and after going 2-0-1 in SuperLiga, the Orange have a lot of momentum.
"We just want to keep it going," said Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark. "We are playing with confidence right now. We can't let up or take anything lightly. We can't take our foot off the pedal because every team is gunning for us. We still have a couple more months to play and the playoffs to go."
Clark returned to the Orange on Wednesday night against D.C. United in Houston's SuperLiga Group B finale after missing the first two contests in the tournament with a sprained ankle. Clark played 22 minutes in the game and said he felt good.
"I missed about a week and a half, and it was kind of difficult to sit here and watch my teammates play," Clark said. "I'm happy to get back in the mix and make an impact on the game."
In Dynamo's last MLS game against New England, the Orange saw their MLS-record shutout streak come to an end. In three SuperLiga games, Houston allowed just one goal.
The Houston defense knows their job, and will look to continue holding opponents to nothing.
"We've been continuing what we've been doing in the last 14 or 15 games in the league," Onstad said. "When you make it difficult for teams to break you down and score goals, you have a good chance to win. We've got a lot of quality in our locker room, and we know the longer we can keep it at zero in the back, eventually, someone is going to put the ball in the net."
Salt Lake will enter Saturday's game in a slump after losing six of their last seven MLS games, last a 2-1 loss at home to New England last weekend. RSL, however, had a win and a draw in international friendlies against Everton FC and Boca Juniors.
Houston knows they cannot overlook the one-win Salt Lake squad.
"Salt Lake has made some changes, and they've looked a lot better at home," Onstad said. "They were very unlucky against New England. I thought they did well to battle back, and it looked like they were going to get away with a draw, but that's the way it goes. Hopefully, for us, we don't want to be their victims, but at the same time, we know it won't be an easy match for us."
In the Dynamo's final SuperLiga contest against D.C. on Wednesday, the schedule got to Houston. After a sluggish start, Houston got the win. Houston will want to get the same result against RSL and stretch their 11-game unbeaten streak.
"If you look at the pace of the game (Wednesday), it was pretty slow because both teams had been playing back-to-back-to-back games," said Dynamo forward Brian Ching. "We have one more, then we get a week (off), so hopefully, we can continue our roll and get a win against Salt Lake."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
