The Houston Dynamo opened their 2010 season with a 1-1 road draw against Texas rival FC Dallas Saturday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. The teams will decide their regular-season series, contested for a Civil War-era mountain howitzer, on May 5 at Robertson Stadium.
Buoyed by a strong traveling contingent of orange-clad fans, the Dynamo took the lead in the 36th minute on Mike Chabala's first professional goal. Brad Davis and Dominic Oduro combined on the build-up, and Chabala fired a sliding, right-footed shot from just outside the penalty area that beat Dario Sala at the near post.
Atiba Harris tied the game for FC Dallas just two minutes later, cutting inside from the left onto his right foot and firing a shot just inside the far post.
Houston outshot Dallas 12-9 for the game and had six corners to just one for Dallas.
Defender Eddie Robinson made his first MLS start since October 25, 2008. Robinson missed almost all of the 2009 season following knee surgery. Robinson left the game in the 43rd minute with a hamstring injury.
The Dynamo played without forward Cam Weaver (right knee strain) and midfielders Francisco Navas Cobo (U.S. U-20 national team) and Lovel Palmer (paperwork).
Midfielder Brian Mullan extended his own franchise record with his 160th career start for the Dynamo in all competitions. Midfielder Brad Davis made the 160th start of his MLS regular season career. Forward Brian Ching played in his 150th career MLS regular season game. Defender Bobby Boswell made his 85th career appearance for the Dynamo in all competitions.
Houston Dynamo (0-0-1) vs. FC Dallas (0-0-1)
March 27, 2010 -- Pizza Hut Park, Frisco TX
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Mike Chabala 1 (Dominic Oduro 1, Brad Davis 1) 36
FCD -- Atiba Harris 1 (David Ferreira 1) 38
Houston Dynamo -- Pat Onstad, Andrew Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Eddie Robinson (Ryan Cochrane 43), Mike Chabala, Brian Mullan (Corey Ashe 67), Richard Mulrooney, Geoff Cameron, Brad Davis, Brian Ching, Dominic Oduro (Luis Angel Landin 78).
Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall, Danny Cruz, Adrian Serioux, Craig Waibel.
FC Dallas -- Dario Sala, Heath Pearce, Kyle Davies (Eric Alexander 55), George John, Jair Benitez, Atiba Harris, Daniel Hernandez, Dax McCarty (Bruno Guarda 92+), David Ferreira, Brek Shea (Eric Avila 69), Jeff Cunningham.
Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Hartman, Zach Loyd, Anthony Wallace, Jason Yeisley.
Misconduct Summary:
FCD -- Dax McCarty (caution; Reckless Foul) 33
FCD -- Atiba Harris (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 45
HOU -- Bobby Boswell (caution; Reckless Tackle) 57
gameSumLabel">Referee: Alex Prus
gameSumLabel">Referee's Assistants: C.J. Morgante; Eric Proctor
gameSumLabel">4th official: Jasen Anno
gameSumLabel">Attendance: 8,016
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-72-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
