THE WIN:
- Improved the Dynamo to 2-0-0 on the season. It is the third time in team history and first time since 2014 that the club has started the season with two victories.
- Improved Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera’s record to 2-0-0 on the Dynamo sideline.
- Gave the Dynamo back-to-back victories for the first time since Sept. 17 and Sept. 24, 2016 at Real Salt Lake and vs. Portland, respectively.
- Improved the Dynamo’s all-time record against Columbus Crew SC to 6-7-10 overall and 5-1-6 at home.
- Kept the Dynamo unbeaten at BBVA Compass Stadium against Columbus, improving the team’s record against Crew SC in the stadium to 4-0-2.
- Improved Houston’s record at BBVA Compass Stadium to 44-18-25.
TEAM NOTES:
- The Dynamo took a 2-0 lead in the first half for the second game in a row. Houston is 1-0-0 on the season when leading at halftime and was 5-3-4 when leading at intermission in 2016.
- Houston struck first for the second game in a row. The Dynamo are 1-0-0 on the season when scoring first and were 7-4-6 in those games in 2016.
- The Dynamo built their biggest lead of the young season when they went up 3-0 after FW Erick Torres’ goal in the 65th minute. It was the largest lead for the Dynamo since Week 2 of 2016 when they defeated FC Dallas 5-0 at home (3/12/16).
- The Dynamo scored two goals from three shots in the first half. Overall, Houston scored three goals on just seven shots, a conversion rate of 42.8 percent.
- The Dynamo won despite conceding the majority of possession for the second consecutive game. Columbus held the ball for 62.6 percent of the game to Houston’s 39.6 percent.
DYNAMO STARTING XI (4-3-3):
Tyler Deric; A.J. DeLaGarza, Adolfo Machado, Leonardo, Dylan Remick; Ricardo Clark ©, Eric Alexander, Alex; Alberth Elis, Erick Torres, Romell Quioto
PLAYER NOTES:
- MF Alex recorded the first two-assist game in his career. He set up FW Alberth Elis from a corner kick in the 35th minute and then hit a long, cross-field ball to FW Erick Torres in the 65th to set up the third goal of the game.
- Alex’s two assists in the game gave him three on the season, which is already a career high surpassing last year’s total of two. Of his seven career assists, five have come over the previous two seasons.
- Alex made his 40th start overall for the Dynamo and the 88th start of his MLS career.
- MF Eric Alexander led the team in passes attempted for the second consecutive match, with 41. He completed 85.4 percent of his passes, which was good for third-most among Dynamo starters.
- Alexander made his second consecutive start. It marked the first time since he joined the Dynamo that he started in back-to-back games.
- FW Alberth Elis scored his first goal as a Dynamo when he buried a first-touch side volley with his right foot from a corner kick in the 35th minute.
- MF Juan David Cabezas made his Dynamo debut when he came on as a substitute in the 69th minute, replacing MF Eric Alexander.
- MF Ricardo Clark made his 293rd start in MLS play and his 218th for the Dynamo tonight.
- Clark made his 15th start against Columbus Crew SC, which will tie him with Brad Davis for the most against Columbus in Dynamo history.
- DF A.J. DeLaGarza made his second consecutive start with the Dynamo and the 198th start of his MLS career.
- GK Tyler Deric made his 56th career start for the Dynamo and earned his 19th win as a starter. He improved his record in goal to 19-21-14.
- DF Leonardo made his 81st career start and his second consecutive start with the Dynamo.
- FW Mauro Manotas made his 2017 season debut for the Dynamo when he came on as a substitute in the 81st minute, replacing FW Erick Torres.
- FW Romell Quioto found the back of the net for the second consecutive game when he picked off an errant pass outside Columbus’ penalty area and beat Crew SC GK Zack Steffen 65 seconds into the game.
- Quioto’s goal was the seventh in team history to come inside of two minutes and the first since Apr. 15, 2016 when D David Horst scored after 58 seconds at home against the LA Galaxy.
- Quioto became the third Dynamo player to score in his first two games with the club. He follows FW Brian Ching, who did so in the first two games in club history (Apr. 2 vs. COL, Apr. 8 vs. KC), and FW Andrew Wenger, who did so in the first two games of 2016 (Mar. 6 vs. NE, Mar. 12 vs. DAL).
- Quioto became the first Dynamo player to score in his first two MLS appearances. Both Ching and Wenger had previous MLS experience before joining the Dynamo.
- DF Dylan Remick made his first start and Dynamo debut. It will be his 33rd career start and first since Aug. 24, 2016 for Seattle at Houston.
- FW Erick Torres scored his second goal in as many games when he beat Columbus GK Zack Steffen in the 65th minute. For Torres, it was the first time he has scored in back-to-back games as a Dynamo and the first time since the 2014 season when he scored in six consecutive games for Chivas USA (June 8 – July 20).
- Torres made his eighth start for the Dynamo and his 53rd overall in MLS play.
- Torres started in consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 29 and Sept. 12, 2015
