With a hat trick from forward Chris Wondolowski, the Houston Dynamo defeated the Laredo Heat, 4-0, in a friendly game played at Carl Lewis Track Field at the University of Houston.
Houston dominated the contest in the early going. Wondolowski fired the first warning shot at the 5th minute of play with a solid ball to the left post, which Heat goalkeeper Ryan Cooper was able to contain with a diving save.
Laredo responded 10 minutes later. After the Houston defense cleared a corner kick by Alfredo Ramos, forward Daniel Galván had a clear shot from outside the box to put Laredo on the advantage, but ended up sending the ball way over Tally Hall's cross bar.
The Dynamo put the game's first goal on the board at the 40th minute. Less than 24 hours after arriving from England, forward Ade Akinbiyi made a solid run down the right side, crossing the ball inside the box for Corey Ashe to put away the first goal of the game.
Houston intensified its offensive efforts in the second half, something that paid off almost immediately. With a clear opportunity to score, Akinbiyi was brought down inside the box, setting up a penalty kick which Chris Wondolowski took full advantage of to increase the Dynamo's lead to 2-0 at the 49th minute of play.
On top of being down 2-0 almost immediately after the second half got underway, Laredo suffered a severe blow at the 69th minute of play, in its efforts to hold the Dynamo attack. In a hotly-contested play, midfielder Danny Cruz took a violent elbow to the nose from Raul Quiñones, which left referee Colin Tate with no option but to eject the Heat's defender.
Wondolowski would score his second goal of the afternoon at the 77th minute, taking advantage of a loose ball inside the box. His third and final tally came at the 81st minute. Running down the left flank, Kei Kamara crossed the ball in to the box. Dynamo academy forward Christian Cruz miscalculated his kick on the ball. His miss, however, left the ball clear for Wondolowski to bury his shot and ensure the win for the Dynamo.
The 4-0 win against the PDL side comes in a week where the Dynamo will see no MLS action. Its next contest will be next Sunday, May 3, against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Kickoff for this game is slated for 2:00 p.m. CT (TV: TeleFutura; Radio: 790 AM, 850 AM).
LAREDO HEAT: Ryan Cooper, Alfredo Ramos (Daniel Garza, 83'), Carlos Ordáz, Soamy Bautista, Raúl Quiñones, Joel Pérez, Greg Mulamba, Juan de Dios Ibarra (Eduardo González, 73'), Frank Lara (Alberto Escobar, 80'), Daniel Galván, Esteban Bayona (Theo Brown, 50' (Alejandro Medina, 87th)).
HOUSTON DYNAMO: Tally Hall, Craig Waibel (Conner Mowery, 83') Julius James, Andrew Hainault, Danny Cruz (Christian Cruz, 73') John Michael Hayden (Sebastien Ibeagha, 83'), Mike Chabala, Corey Ashe, Chris Wondolowski, Ade Akinbiyi (Kei Kamara, 62'), Erik Ustruck.
STATISTICAL SUMMARY -- HOUSTON DYNAMO 4-0 LAREDO HEAT
Scoring:
HOU: Ashe (Akinbiyi), 40'
HOU: Wondolowski (penalty kick), 49'
HOU: Wondolowski (unassisted), 77'
HOU: Wondolowski (Kamara), 81'
Disciplinary Summary:
LAREDO HEAT:
Yellow Cards: Joel Pérez, 39'
Red Cards: Raúl Quiñones, 69'
HOUSTON DYNAMO:
Yellow Cards: none
Red Cards: none
Referee: Colin Tate
1st assistant: Carlos Salas
2nd assistant: Courtney Jackson
Attendance: 150
Weather: partly cloudy, 75 degrees
POST-GAME QUOTES:
Dynamo Head Coach Dominic Kinnear:
On the game...
"Any time you step on the field, the intention is to try to win and play well. I think we achieved both aims with today's result."
On Chris Wondolowski's hat trick and the participation of Houston Dynamo Academy players...
"(Chris) obviously played very well, scoring a hat-trick for us today. [As far as the academy players go], they came in, played, and did OK. Overall, I am very pleased with the effort the guys put out today."
On Akinbiyi's first game with the Dynamo...
I thought he was good. He had a hand in the first two goals with the ball in for Corey, and then getting pulled down with the penalty. Even though he was tired, he managed to play and be a good force for us on the field."
Dynamo forward Ade Akinbiyi
On his first game as a member of the Houston Dynamo...
It was OK. I'm obviously a bit jet lagged, but that didn't stop me from coming in and playing good minutes today. I still need to work on my fitness, but feel confident that I should be ready to go for (our game against New England)."
Dynamo Academy defender Conner Mowery
On having the opportunity to play with the first team...
"It was great. I've been watching the guys for a while, and playing for even 10 minutes, like I did, gives me the chance to see what it's really like to be with the first team."
On how the game and its style of play compare to playing for the academy...
"The game is a lot faster than what we are used to. You have to be able to run faster, apply more pressure, and constantly be aware of what is going on around you. The game is also a lot more physical. This is actually an incentive for my teammates and I to be persistent and hope that one of these days we'll be able to play for the first team."
