For the second year of the club's existence, Houston Dynamo will be playing for the championship of Major League Soccer after defeating the Kansas City Wizards 2-0 in the Western Conference Championship on Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium.
In front of the largest home crowd in their short history, a goal from Nate Jaqua in the 34th minute put the Orange in the lead and Dwayne De Rosario netted in the 81st minute to send his squad to MLS Cup 2007, where Dynamo will also aim to be the first team to win back-to-back championships since D.C. United did it in the league's first two seasons.
The victory sets up the first repeat MLS Cup Final in league history, as Dynamo will take on the New England Revolution at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 18. Dynamo won last year's final on penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes.
The game's first chance fell to the Orange in the fifth minute when they won a corner kick. Brad Davis sent the corner into the middle of the goal area, but Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman leapt backwards to just punch the ball away at the last moment as De Rosario slipped in at the back post. The ensuing corner kick sailed high over the crowded box, but in the scrum Hartman was bowled over and a foul called.
The Wizards had a glorious chance to pull level in the 12th minute. Davy Arnaud lofted a pass from 40 yards out that caromed off the head of Brian Mullan to Eddie Johnson in the right side of the area. With the goal at his mercy, Johnson hammered a full volley from about 12 yards out, but sent it blazing over the crossbar.
Dynamo had a glorious chance of their own go awry a minute later. Davis sent a low cross from the left side of the penalty area but it was punched out by Hartman. It landed right at De Rosario at the top of the box, and even with Hartman out of the goal on the ground, De Rosario put his effort just above of the crossbar.
In the 17th minute Houston put together a good combination as left back Wade Barrett sent a low screamer to Jaqua at the penalty spot. The forward redirected the ball toward the goal with his left foot, but it went wide to the right of the goal.
Just two minutes later the Wizards gifted the Orange their best look of the game, as Jack Jewsbury lost the ball outside the right corner of the 18. Ching quickly caught up to the loose ball, but screwed his wide open one-timer flew wide of the left post.
Dynamo were starting to gain the upper hand and put on heavy pressure. Ching was once again denied in the 29th minute as his quick shot on the turn from the top of the box went just a bit too far right. Then De Rosario raced forward on the right in the 34th minute before letting fly from well outside the box with a low, hard shot aimed for the far corner, only to see Hartman once again come up with a diving stop.
But Houston broke from the ensuing corner kick. Richard Mulrooney's cross soared into the middle of the mixer, and Jaqua soared into the air to head the ball into the roof of the net.
Jaqua was booked in the 41st minute when he crashed into Jack Jewsbury in a heavy collision that left the Wizards defender on the ground for a few minutes.
Dynamo thought they earned a second goal in first half stoppage time after a Mullan bouncer rolled up and out of Hartman's grasp and De Rosario placed the second chance opportunity past him, but the flag went up for offside as De Rosario was ahead of the last defender when the shot was taken.
Early in the second half, the Wizards saw their best chance at finding the equalizer when Jewsbury sent a curling shot goalward that just sailed into the side netting on the wrong side of the post.
But Dynamo's defense had a lot to do with that. In the 52nd minute Robinson once again picked Johnson's pocket after the two went at each other one-on-one. It was Robinson's marking that limited Kansas City's leading scorer to only one shot on the night.
As the half wore on, so did the Wizards frustration. In the 55th minute Nick Garcia garnered a yellow card for scuffling with Davis, and just three minutes later Carlos Marinelli, who had come on at halftime for Kerry Zavagnin, tripped up Davis from behind near midfield to see yellow.
Dynamo had their first real chance to extend their lead in the 69th minute when Davis deked Jewsbury on the goalline and drove a low cross in front of goal. But Hartman was able to get down and block the effort to keep his team within a goal.
However, on the play, Ching went down and had to come off the field, replaced by Joseph Ngwenya. Ching suffered an apparent calf injury.
The Wizards almost contributed to their own demise when De Rosario led a 2-on-1 on the left and tried to slid the ball to Jaqua on his right. A retreating Jimmy Conrad was able to deflect the pass, sending toward his own goal, but he was relieved to see it just slip outside the left-hand post.
Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo continued to add attacking weapons in the second half, replacing Sasha Victorine with Eloy Colombano in the 66th minute and sending Ryan Pore in for Jewsbury in the 75th.
But it was Dynamo that had the next good chance and it resulted in the vital insurance goal. Craig Waibel picked off the ball in midfield and sent De Rosario into the left side of the penalty area with a perfect through ball. De Rosario controlled the ball 15 yards out and placed a roller perfectly inside the near post, this time beating Hartman's dive.
That was all Dynamo needed, and about 10 minutes later they were able to celebrate another conference championship won on their home field with their fanatical orange-clad following, and keep alive their bid to repeat at MLS champions.
Casey Michel is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
