Brian Ching scored two goals, including one in the first overtime period, and Brad Davis added an insurance goal to give Houston Dynamo a come-from-behind 4-1 win against FC Dallas in the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series at Robertson Stadium. The victory gave Dynamo the win in the series 4-2 on aggregate and sent them into next Saturday's Western Conference Championship.
Carlos Ruiz had given FC Dallas a lead after just 14 minutes, doubling the aggregate lead. But Arturo Alvarez was sent off a minute into the second half, and Dynamo finally broke through with goals five minutes apart from Stuart Holden and Ching midway through the half. With the series tied 2-2 in total goals, a 30-minute extra session was necessary, and Ching and Davis provided the late heroics three minutes apart.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the starting lineup from the first leg, opting for Davis in the midfield and Nate Jaqua up front. Both players came on after the 60-minute mark in game one, and Davis made his third start in four matches after a lengthy layoff due to injury.
With defender Clarence Goodson, scorer of the only goal in FCD's 1-0 win last week, not even on the bench for the return leg, head coach Steve Morrow went with Alex Yi in the back and Denilson in midfield. Denilson didn't play a minute in the two matches leading up to tonight's contest.
Less than a minute into the match, Houston's Ryan Cochrane sailed a long cross toward goal that bounced off the crossbar, and Dwayne De Rosario looked like he had made the most of a mad scramble in the goalmouth, poking the ball past a harried Dario Sala, but he was ruled offside and Sala spent the next two minutes on the pitch recovering from a knock.
The concentrated Dynamo attack continued four minutes later as Brian Mullan sent a shot in from the right side of the 18-yard box that required a diving stop by Sala.
In the 10th minute, Dynamo had three chances to open the scoring, with two shots on goal from Jaqua and Mulrooney, including one that ricocheted off the left post. Sala finally cleared downfield and Carlos Ruiz made a halfhearted attempt from the deep right side against Pat Onstad.
FC Dallas all but drove a dagger into the Dynamo heart when Ruiz was not to be denied in the 14th minute, scoring his 16th career playoff goal from in front of the net after passes from Bobby Rhine and Kenny Cooper.
Houston tried to fight back and Jaqua headed a speedy ball from De Rosario wide left five minutes later.
Morrow made the first change when Ray Burse replaced Sala in goal for Dallas in the 24th minute after Sala injured his right knee, but not until the Argentinean was carded for delay of game.
Mullan lobbed a long shot from the right side in the 34th minute that Burse had to go high and left to save, and the Dynamo kept up the pressure on the replacement 'keeper.
Waibel went wide left from outside the box on a feed from Mullan, and Dynamo missed another chance when Ching was blocked in the 37th minute. Ching nodded the ball just wide right on a free kick from Davis seven minutes later.
De Rosario was brought down just outside the box on the right top corner in injury time, but Davis couldn't get his free kick through the Dallas wall. Dynamo missed another chance to knot the score in the final moments of the first half on another free kick from the right side of the box.
Needing three goals to keep alive their dream of repeating as MLS Cup champions, the Orange attacked from the restart and put pressure on the Dallas defense. Houston native Alvarez crumbled under the pressure and was sent off in the first minute of the second half to put Dynamo a man up. Kinnear quickly sent on Stuart Holden to replace Waibel.
Denilson came off in favor of Pablo Ricchetti in the 50th minute for the visitors, and two minutes later Davis rocketed a shot over the goal for Dynamo.
Cochrane lobbed another shot from deep on the right side in the 55th minute, but Burse made an easy save on the line. Six minutes after that Kinnear again went to the bench, bringing on Joseph Ngwenya, who came in for Jaqua to add fresh legs to the Dynamo attack.
Ngwenya was stopped by Burse in the 64th minute, but three minutes later Holden drove a shot into the lower left side of the goal past Burse after a Ching attempt was parried to the middle of the box with help from Cochrane.
Ching was painfully close when he put a header over the bar in the 70th minute off a nifty pass from Davis and Ngwenya. Houston kept turning the heat up and Ching used a pass from De Rosario to jab the ball past Burse in the 72nd minute to even the score on aggregate.
The Orange never relented in attacking the Dallas defense, keeping Burse busy. De Rosario came close with a header in the 83rd minute, and Davis screamed a long shot over the bar three minutes later.
Three minutes into stoppage time, Houston had an opening to seal the win, but Burse stopped Ching on the right side of the goal and the match went into overtime.
FCD's Cooper took the first stab at goal in the initial overtime period, but put his shot over the bar in the second minute.
Davis curled a shot in from the right side in the fourth extra minute, hitting the crossbar, and less than a minute later Ching took advantage of a hash-up in goal by Burse to score off an assist by Ngwenya from directly in front of the net.
Drew Moor's foul on Ngwenya in the 100th minute set up a free kick that Davis rocketed from the left side of the box beautifully into the top left of the net over Burse's outstretched hands, putting Dynamo in the driver's seat for good as the rowdy home crowd rocked Robertson Stadium.
Glen McMicken is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
