By: Rad Rich
The Dynamo advance to the the final leg of Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, following a second leg playoff match in Washington against DC United. After winning 3-1 at home in the first leg, in Houston the Dynamo only had to at least draw or hold United to one goal in the second leg. DC United were suffering from injuries but were confident that being at home would be in their advantage.
The first half of the game, DC United came out strong, keeping Houston at bay with some strong attacks. But it was the goal by Oscar Boniek Garcia in the 33rd minute that increased Houston’s confidence. The Dynamo held strong until DC United were able to score one goal by Branko Boskovic in the 83rd minute. Houston still held firm in keeping DC out of the back of the net. The match finished with a 1-1 draw and 4-2 aggregate win, placing Houston as the Eastern Conference Champions. Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said that he felt the team would be stronger this year during the MLS Final than they were last year.
Someone who was on their back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007, and knows about winning, is Houston’s Ricardo Clark. Clark came back to the Dynamo late into the season after playing in Europe for 3 years. After the match, a tired Clark commented on how great to be with such a good team. The team will have to wait to see if he will be able to play in the MLS Cup Final next week because he was so sore coming on after the match.
One player that was strong during the first leg and throughout the whole match is Tally Hall, who stated that there was so much emotion during the games that the team had to go in fighting, and the performance they put out is amazing. He also said he was very happy with the win and announced that they have a great group of guys that work as a team. Another star player, Brian Ching, said that the team strives off of people that overlook them all the time. He tipped his hat off to Dom and the coaching staff for being able to have a team that can make the playoffs for so many years.
But with the victors comes the spoils. DC United’s Nick DeLeon has to look towards next year. DeLeon said that he doesn’t feel good reflecting back– it was a strong season time to unwind and come back next season. He thought his team made some good opportunities, but unfortunately were not able to change coming off the first leg this season.
Now officially entering the MLS Cup in back-to-back years, the Dynamo will now take on the LA Galaxy– the winner of the Western Conference Finals– at the Home Depot Center on December 1.
