Two days shy of two months. That is how long it had been since the Houston Dynamo suffered their last defeat on the field.
Entering their CONCACAF Champions League Group B match against Pumas UNAM Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo had an 11-game unbeaten streak dating to Aug. 31, exactly one week after dropping a 3-0 decision at Giants Stadium in E. Rutherford, N.J.
But all that is gone after a 3-1 loss to the Mexican club on a rainy and windy night at Robertson Stadium.
Pumas jumped out to a two-goal lead and held off the Orange after an own goal by Marco Antonio Palacios energized the hosts late in the first half.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear, who chose to rest forward Brian Ching, midfielder Brian Mullan and defender Bobby Boswell, said Pumas was the more alert team Wednesday night.
"We were the second best at everything tonight," Kinnear said. "We would get caught behind the ball when it got turned over. The ball always seemed to find their feet without pressure and they broke well. So they didn't really get a lot of opportunities to score, but they really took advantage of their chances."
Nate Jaqua played a very good game and had several chances to score Wednesday. Rookie midfielder Geoff Cameron made a great play to set up the Pumas own goal and said despite the loss, the team is still focused on competing in the tournament and gearing up for the MLS postseason.
"It's obviously a devastating loss ... and we wanted to keep the winning streak alive, but maybe this was an eye-opener for us to get our last loss of the regular season," said Cameron. "Let's get back on track Saturday, get the momentum back and be ready for the playoffs. That is our main goal, to be ready for the playoffs and to bring home a championship."
More than two hours before the match began, the skies over southeast Texas opened up. With torrential rain falling, and winds shifted from out of the north, the field became inundated with Houston's largest rainfall since Hurricane Ike.
When the match did start, roughly 40 minutes late, the younger Pumas team was quicker to the ball and made better decisions with the rain still falling.
"I am not going to make excuses," Cameron said. "We have been in that position before in D.C. (July 23) and we waited two or three hours for that. I don't know, maybe it just wasn't our night. Now we can forget about it, go back to practice, get the little things done and be ready for Saturday.
Added Kinnear: "I just felt that we were a little off tonight, and they took advantage of us."
Pumas head coach Ricardo Ferretti left many of his team's veteran players behind in Mexico City. The team is in danger of missing the playoffs in the FMF Primera Division Apertura and was winless in their last five Mexican league games, scoring just one goal overall.
Kinnear said the Dynamo, however, did not take Pumas lightly, and Ferretti said he was not surprised at how well his young squad fared.
"We have gotten some of our better results this year with the younger (guys)," added Ferretti.
Said Kinnear: "I just told the guys that individually -- and collectively -- we were off tonight. And I don't want to say 'Well, this is the first game that we've had in awhile that we haven't played well.'
"That is a poor excuse because we as a team and as individuals are responsible for our actions every time we step on the field."
Even more difficult after Wednesday's loss is that the Dynamo must now earn four points in their two remaining Group B matches, both against CD Luis Angel Firpo. They will travel to El Salvador next week for a game just three days after playing their MLS regular season finale against Chivas USA.
A win Wednesday would have made things much easier on the Western Conference champions.
"Yeah, we obviously wanted to go in that game after getting the three points we could have gotten tonight, but the pressure is on us for sure, and I think we have done pretty well under pressure this year," Cameron said. "We're looking forward to Saturday, we'll play that hard and try to win and then we will focus on the next one Tuesday in [El Salvador]."
Kinnear said now isn't the time to complain. His team has been through so much this season, and the next set of games entering the MLS Cup Playoffs is just another test for the two-time defending champions.
"We're going to do it, but the schedule is insane," Kinnear said. "I told the guys after the game that this is their first loss in a long time, and let's make it the last loss for a long time."
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
