HOUSTON - Houston Dynamo wanted to get the defense of their MLS Cup title off on the right foot. They raised their championship banner before Sunday's season opener at Robertson Stadium, and had their rivals the Los Angeles Galaxy in town.
But even despite going a man down to a red card late in the game, Dynamo and the Galaxy played to a scoreless draw in the Space City, and the home team wasn't thrilled with the single point.
"We've had a pretty good rivalry against these guys for a long time," said forward Brian Ching. "Going back to when a lot of our guys were together in San Jose. This is one we really wanted. Having said that, they really played well, but we did too. It's unfortunate that we were not able to convert any of our chances and not be able to get the extra points in the standings."
Dynamo had 11 shots in the match with four shots on goal, but they couldn't get any past L.A. goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
In the 12th minute, Brad Davis had his shot stopped by Cannon. Another opportunity for Dynamo went by the wayside in the 37th minute when Eddie Robinson's header was denied by the Galaxy 'keeper.
But while Cannon had his moments, Dynamo had some chances go wasted as well. In the 13th minute, a Ching shot on goal went high and in the 25th minute, Dwayne de Rosario put one just to the left of the goal. Ching got a chance at redemption in the 48th minute, but his header attempt went high and over the goal.
Playing 120 minutes against Pachuca on Thursday in Mexico didn't help as Ching and the rest of the Dynamo squad admitted to having "heavy legs."
"I think we can walk off the field tonight with a sense of pride," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "We just came off a pretty good showing in the international competition (CONCACAF Champions' Cup) and played a pretty good game here at home tonight. I think we knew we were going to be a little tired tonight from the game on Thursday and the travel."
To make matters worse, Dynamo had to play the last 14 minutes of the match with the disadvantage after defender Ryan Cochrane was sent off after pulling the Galaxy's Robbie Findley down from behind.
A large part of why Dynamo were able to keep the game scoreless was goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who made two saves in his first match back from a calf injury. Onstad was happy with the result, all things considered.
"In the first half we really didn't do much, but in the second half we took control of the game," Onstad said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get anything in the net, but overall it was a good result considering.
"It was a long week for us, especially with the long travel day on Thursday. But we did what we could and it will be nice to have a day off tomorrow," Onstad continued. "It will be nice to recuperate, get things going and prepare for a big match against Chivas next week."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
