With 11 games left on their MLS season schedule, the Houston Dynamo know the time is now if they want to make a move and win the Supporters' Shield for the first time since moving to Houston before the 2006 season.
Last week's 1-0 home loss to New England stings because the Orange were unable to capitalize on several good chances, to at least earn a point following their now-legendary road trip the past month.
Now, the team turns its sights on a D.C. United team that is looking to rebound from a disastrous draw against San Jose a week ago, when they held a two-goal lead after 21 minutes.
The Dynamo know -- as they've gone winless in three in a row including losses in three of five overall -- that the teams behind them in the standings are slowly creeping up. Seattle, just three points behind with a game in hand, could pull even with the Dynamo this weekend.
"It hasn't been our best month," said striker Brian Ching, who rejoins the team after playing for the U.S. national team. "I guess you could say that we've slipped in form, but having said that, (when I was gone) the team traveled to six different cities and covered a lot of miles. They played some pretty intense games, and maybe they were a little tired.
"But hopefully this week, the guys got a little break, with a week off between games. Now is a really good chance to pick up some points and get back on our winning ways."
United pace the league with 31 goals and have been better of late on the other side of the ball. Even with the turnaround, D.C. still ranks 11th defensively. United are led in scoring by Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno.
Rookie Chris Pontius, whom Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear complimented for a great season thus far, has four goals while sharing time at both midfield and forward.
The matchup will be tough for Kinnear's team, the MLS leaders with 32 points (9-5-5).
"(D.C. has) had a little bit of a rough go at it lately and have been rotating guys in and out," said Kinnear. "They are a talented team and Christian Gomez is having a really good season. Defensively, they are solid now. Earlier in the season Fred was injured, but he is getting healthy and playing really well."
United won the first meeting of the season on April 4, snapping a five-game winless streak against Houston in all competitions. In that game, Emilio snapped a scoreless tie with a goal in the 47th minute. That was the only goal in the 1-0 result.
Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad said that game will be a challenge for the team, but they don't want to look back too far and use April's loss as motivation for Saturday.
"If anything, we look back to last weekend (against New England) and know that we didn't play to the level that we are capable of playing," Onstad said. "If we want to beat D.C. United, we have to play a lot better than we did last weekend."
With Ching and Stuart Holden back from their time with the U.S. national team, the Dynamo probably are the favorites to get back on track at home against United. But to win, they are going to have to play better than they did against the Revs, and they are going to have find that killer instinct the team used to get ahead of the rest of the league in May and June.
"We are getting to the point now where we know we really, really need a big result, and this week is a big opportunity for us," said Ching.
"If you look at our last five games, we only have one win. That is not indicative of the guys, and it weighs on the guys week in and week out when we are not doing well."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
