Houston Dynamo coaches and players, many of whom won the Carolina Challenge Cup last year as members of the San Jose Earthquakes, took the first step toward a second title Saturday night, defeating tournament host Charleston Battery (USL First Division) 1-0. Ronald Cerritos' 74th minute free kick was all it took in the scrappy affair that saw the Battery bunker in for much of the match.
"They sat in pretty much in their own half, so they made it difficult to break them down," said Dynamo head coach Dominick Kinnear. "We started getting some balls in over the top. That finally opened some things up for us in the second half."
The Battery -- the only non-MLS club participating in the annual preseason tournament -- had only six days to prepare for the opening match of the third annual tournament. Houston, D.C. United, and the New York Red Bulls have all been training since early February. The round-robin tournament, which runs through next Saturday, serves to prepare the MLS clubs for their season-opening matches on Apirl 1 and 2.
The free kick that Cerritos scored from was the result of one of several searching balls played out of the Houston defense, run onto by Dwayne De Rosario. Battery defender Chris Gores was whistled for a foul on De Rosario as they both chased after what would have probably been an otherwise innocuous ball.
Cerritos stepped up and neatly lobbed the ball from 22 yards out over the six-man Battery wall into the top left corner, freezing Battery goalkeeper Dusty Hudock on his line.
Despite their defensive stance, the Battery created the first scoring chance of the game. In the 19th minute, Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad was forced to dive through traffic to collect a low, driven cross with two Battery attackers lurking at the far post.
Shortly thereafter, the game was suspended due to a problem with the Blackbaud Stadium lighting. After nearly 45 minutes, play resumed, though neither team was able to establish any rhythm until well into the second half.
Not having played a game in more than a week, Kinnear ran what is effectively his starting 11 for much of the match, missing only Brian Ching, who with the U.S. national team ahead Wednesday's friendly with Germany, and Brad Davis, who was unavailable to play due to injury.
Though Houston maintained a good hold on the game, the Battery came close to equalizing in second-half injury time. Throwing everyone forward on a free kick from the right flank, Gores got on the end of well-taken free kick, heading just over the crossbar.
"There are some good things and some bad things we can take from this game," Kinnear said. "It gives us a good indication what we need to work on."
Houston will face D.C. United on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. ET, while Charleston will next face the New York Red Bulls at 6 p.m. ET.
Andrew Mosier is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Cerritos 74'
Houston Dynamo
Pat Onstad, Kevin Goldthwaite (75 Marcus Storey), Eddie Robinson (15 Ryan Cochrane), Wade Barrett, Craig Waibel, Kelly Gray, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Mullen, Alajandro Moreno, Ronald Cerritos (75 Stuart Holden).
Charleston Battery
Dusty Hudock, Chris Brunt, Mark Watson (45 Brandan Curran), Chris Gores, Chris Corcoran, Jeff Mateo, Ugo Okoye (80 Jordie Huges), Andres Perez (45 Armando Romero), Luke Vercollone, Ben Hollingsworth, Alon Lubezky (45 Gavin Glinton).
