ORLANDO, Fla. – The Houston Dynamo advanced to the third-place match at the Disney Pro Soccer Classic by virtue of a 1-1 tie against the Montreal Impact on Wednesday night at the ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex.
Goal differential boosted the Dynamo into second place in Group 1 after the Orange finished in a three-way tie on points with the Impact and Sporting Kansas City. The consolation match will see Houston take on the second-place team from Group 2 on Saturday night (6 pm ET, ESPN3.com).
The goals came four minutes apart early in the second half. Dynamo forward Will Bruin opened the scoring for Houston on a header from a Colin Clark cross just four minutes after the break and Impact captain Patrice Bernier netted the equalizer seven minutes later on a majestic free kick that found the top left corner.
The Impact looked the better side over the balance of the match, pressing the Dynamo all over the field and using effective off-the-ball movement to create more than a few dangerous attacks. Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Davy Arnaud capped two of those maneuvers with threatening shots in the first half.
The Dynamo, who struggled to string passes together in the opening 45 minutes, played a better second half and Bruin was often at the heart of the Dynamo’s best offensive plays. Houston midfielders Adam Moffat and Colin Clarke also showed some daring with long distance blasts, while second-half sub Cam Weaver got a header on goal in the 77th minute.
Lamar Neagle nearly won the match for Montreal with a shot inside the penalty area in the 73rd minute off an Arnaud cross and his teammate Felipe Martins attempted a shot from outside the box, coming close in minute 80.
Second-half substitute Collen Warner received a straight red card for Montreal in the closing stages of the match after what was ruled a dangerous tackle on Houston’s Corey Ashe.
Scoring Summary:
HOU - Will Bruin (Clark) 50’
MTL - Patrice Bernier 56’
Montreal - Donovan Ricketts (Greg Sutton 45’), Jeb Brovsky (Calum Mallace 77’), Matteo Ferrari, Tyson Wahl, Josh Gardner, Davy Arnaud, Patrice Bernier, Felipe, Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Collen Warner 77’), Justin Braun (Lamar Neagle 63’), Mike Fucito (Miguel Montano 55’)
Houston - Tally Hall; Warren Creavalle, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Corey Ashe; Colin Clark (Calen Carr 86), Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo (Nathan Sturgis 63), Brad Davis (Youssouf Hersi); Brian Ching (Cam Weaver 70), Will Bruin (Macoumba Kandji 75).
Cautions: 20’ Moffat, 22’ Wahl 22’, 34’ Ashe, 41' Hainault
Ejections: 88’ Warner
