With injuries, cards and national team call-ups for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Houston Dynamo back line was depleted. That shortcoming showed Saturday in Seattle.
Defender Patrick Ianni, who played three seasons with the Dynamo, made his former team pay with a bicycle-kick goal from a corner kick early in the second half as Seattle Sounders FC downed Houston 2-1 in a Saturday matinee at Qwest Field.
Sounders FC (7-3-7, 28 points) closed the gap on Houston (9-4-4, 31 points), the Western Conference leaders and league's top defensive team. The loss was just the Dynamo's second loss in 16 matches and Seattle hiked its unbeaten streak to six matches overall.
Brad Davis had given the Dynamo the lead in the 12th minute, but Fredy Montero brought Seattle level in the 31st minute.
Houston, which is in the midst of seven games in a row on the road in all competitions, had its MLS record streak of 28 matches without a loss when scoring first come to an end.
The Dynamo were missing five regulars for Saturday's match. Forward Brian Ching, midfielder Stuart Holden and defender Andrew Hainault were not with the team on Saturday and instead away with their national teams the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Houston also was without defenders Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell, both suspended for yellow-card accumulation.
Defender Mike Chabala, who played collegiately at the University of Washington, started but left the field in the 60th minute with a bruised right quadriceps muscle.
Houston entered with the league's top defense having allowed just 10 goals in its first 16 matches. That's thanks to Vancouver, B.C. native Pat Onstad's 0.62 goals against average and eight shutouts in goal.
The Sounders were without head coach Sigi Schmid, who was in northern California for his son's wedding on Saturday. Brian Schmetzer, who coached the USL-1 (second division) Sounders and is now the team's top assistant, ran the team on Saturday.
Kurt Schmid, a Sounders FC scout, will wed on Saturday and his father won't miss the event.
Houston dodged a possible chance from Seattle in the fourth minute as Peter Vagenas, making his first start for Sounders FC, got loose at the top of the box. Chabala made a sliding tackle to displace the ball from Vagenas and then Seattle's Montero gained possession and sent a cross in front of the Dynamo goal, only to find no teammate there in a crowd of players.
The Dynamo went ahead 1-0 in the 12th minute when Davis knocked in a straightaway shot at the top of the penalty area on a pass from Brian Mullan. Davis scored his third goal of the season by beating Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller to the right corner of the net with the left-footed blast.
Onstad saved a 25-yard blast from James Riley, tipping his try from an angle on the right side over the crossbar in the 13th minute.
Onstad came out to the middle of the box to make a sliding save and kick-away from Montero, who gained possession while one on one with Onstad in the 22nd minute.
Davis almost snuck a 29-yard direct free kick into the left corner, just narrowly miss wide in the 26th minute with a left-footed crack.
Montero tied the match at 1-1 in the 32nd minute with his team-best ninth goal on an assist from Nate Jaqua. However, the goal did not come with controversy and pleading from Houston coach Dominic Kinnear to the referees.
On Montero's goal, referee Mark Geiger ruled that the whole ball crossed the end line on his chest-and-volley shot to the left side of the net. Initially, it looked as if Chabala might have cleared the ball away with a flying kick, but after a short delay, the referee ruled it a goal.
Montero's goal ended a scoreless streak for the Houston defense at 367 minutes in all competitions, including two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches.
Onstad batted away a point-blank attempt from Steve Zakuani in the 43rd minute, showing quick reflexes after a cross from the right side. Onstad reached back behind his head with his right hand to make the save.
On a highlight reel goal, former Dynamo center back Ianni gave Seattle a 2-1 lead in the 46th minute. Ianni's over-the-shoulder score from the right post into the left corner came after Freddie Ljungberg's corner kick deflected off Jhon Kennedy Hurtado's head to Ianni's feet at the right post.
It was Ianni's first goal of the season and first since his tally for Houston on June 24, 2007. The defender came to Seattle via trade for a conditional draft pick on Jan. 26, 2009.
The teams will meet again in 10 days, in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal. In the meantime, Sounders FC will not face another league game, while the Dynamo will stay on the road, traveling to take on Toronto FC on July 18.
Matt Massey is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
