A trip to the nation’s capital brings about a small reunion for the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo will be at RFK Stadium Saturday night taking on DC United and a few familiar faces that have traded in their orange for black and red.
Former Dynamo players Dwayne De Rosario and Danny Cruz will suit up against the Dynamo and former Houston keeper Pat Onstad will be on the DC sidelines as an assistant coach. De Rosario left Houston in a trade with Toronto in 2008. De Rosario was then traded to New York last season and a few months later he was on the move again to DC. The moves didn’t affect De Rosario as he took home MLS MVP honors last season with 16 goals and 12 assists. Cruz, a fan favorite in Houston for his hardnosed play on the field and charitable work off it, was traded this past offseason and will play his first game against his old team.
Brad Davis has trained this week and looks like he could be available to Dominic Kinnear. You’d love to have Davis play against a tough Eastern Conference rival but like I’ve said the past two weeks, you don’t want to rush him and risk re-injury. If Davis does play I wouldn’t expect to see him start. A late game substitute seems more likely and that would be only if he is needed (Dynamo trailing late). Davis’ replacement at left midfield the last 2 matches, Corey Ashe, is also doubtful to play in DC with a hamstring strain. Ashe did go through a complete practice on Thursday though and is optimistic he will be able to play. If Ashe can’t go I’d like to see Calen Carr start on the wing. Carr has come off the bench in the last 2 matches but giving him a whole match in the midfield could be unearthing a hidden gem.
After a mental lapse allowed a goal last week the Dynamo defense will have to be back in good form against a tough DC offensive attack. Forward Chris Pontius had a hat trick last week against New York and his partner up front Maicon Santos has also been in fine form recently. De Rosario likes to sit behind the forwards like he did with the Dynamo and although he has yet to score this season, we know how deadly he can be setting up teammates. Cruz and rookie Nick De Leon have played well on the wings this season and Andy Najar is also a fine young player in their midfield. Needless to say, we don’t need any back passes this week to our keeper that he has to head away.
After a slow start the Dynamo offense has begun to click with both forwards, Brian Ching and Will Bruin, scoring in last week’s 2-2 draw at Columbus. With Davis likely out or limited again this week look for the combination play to continue between Ching and Bruin in the box with service from the outside backs and wings. Bruin had a hat trick last year against DC United so look for him to again try and burn the DC backline.
If Ching starts, and he will, it will be his 150th start for the Dynamo in all competitions. He will become the 4th player to reach this milestone joining Brad Davis (185), Pat Onstad (170), and Brian Mullan (163). The Dynamo beat DC 4-1 last year at home and drew 2-2 at DC. Houston has not lost to DC since April of 2009, going 4-0-1 against the Red and Black since then. With 8 points from the first 5 games of the season opening road trip the Dynamo have already exceeded most people’s expectations to the unusual start to the season. Another road point here would be big. With DC coming off a big win and playing at home this match won’t be easy but I’ll take another 2-2 draw.
(image courtesy of Anthony Vasser/Houston Dynamo)
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