Summary
The Dynamo scored their fourth road win of the year behind an early Kei Kamara header, which he punctuated with a Michael Jackson imitation on the pitcher’s mound. Houston defended deep, with Pat Onstad making three saves, and held on for the win.
Notes
The Houston Dynamo earned a hard-fought 1-0 win on the road Saturday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City. It was the Dynamo's first MLS win since June 13 and extended Houston's lead in the MLS standings to four points ahead of idle Chivas USA.
The Dynamo opened the scoring in the 18th minute when forward Kei Kamara headed in a pinpoint cross from defender Mike Chabala after midfielder Corey Ashe opened up space on the left. The assist was the first of Chabala's professional career and Ashe's second straight game with an assist after he had a goal and an assist against Austin in Open Cup play on Wednesday. Ashe now has four assists on the year in all competitions, second behind Brad Davis (8).
Goalkeeper Pat Onstad made three saves as the Dynamo held on for their league-leading eighth shutout despite sustained pressure from Kansas City in the second half. Onstad remains the Major League Soccer leader in goals against average, both this season and all-time.
Houston remains unbeaten on the road against Kansas City (3-0-1) and earned its fourth road win of the year (4-3-1), more than last year's total (3-4-8). The Dynamo are now 2-1 on their current road streak, which will be at least six games, including the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Midfielder Ricardo Clark returned from his successful stint with the U.S. national team at the Confederations Cup and made his 160th career MLS start. Defender Bobby Boswell played in his 125th career MLS game. Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear won his 75th MLS regular season game.
The only sour note for the Dynamo in Kansas City Saturday was that center backs Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell both picked up yellow cards and will miss next Saturday's game against Seattle due to yellow card accumulation.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden made his debut for the United States senior national team and scored on his debut in the United States' 4-0 win over Grenada.
Houston was without Holden, forwards Brian Ching (U.S. national team) and Cam Weaver (groin strain), and defenders Andrew Hainault (Canadian national team), Eddie Robinson (disabled list), and Wade Barrett (gastrocnemius strain).
Houston Dynamo (9-3-4) vs. Kansas City Wizards (5-6-4)
July 04, 2009 -- CommunityAmerica Ballpark, Kansas City KS
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Kei Kamara 4 (Mike Chabala 1, Corey Ashe 3) 18
Houston Dynamo -- Richard Mulrooney, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Mike Chabala, Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, Corey Ashe (Danny Cruz 93+), Kei Kamara, Dominic Oduro (Ade Akinbiyi 67)
Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall, John Michael Hayden, Julius James, Erik Ustruck, Craig Waibel.
Home Team -- Kevin Hartman, Matt Besler, Aaron Hohlbein, Rauwshan McKenzie, Lance Watson, Herculez Gomez (Michael Kraus 74), Jack Jewsbury, Santiago Hirsig, Michael Harrington (Abe Thompson 61), Claudio Lopez, Josh Wolff.
Substitutes Not Used: Boris Pardo, Jonathan Leathers, Matt Marquess, Kurt Morsink, Graham Zusi.
Misconduct Summary:
HOU -- Mike Chabala (caution; Delay of Game) 46+
HOU -- Bobby Boswell (caution; Tactical Foul) 49
HOU -- Geoff Cameron (caution; Dissent) 94+
gameSumLabel">Referee: Hilario Grajeda
gameSumLabel">Referee's Assistants: Greg Barkey; Peter Manikowski
gameSumLabel">4th official: Oscar Ortiz
gameSumLabel">Attendance: 10,385
Weather: Cloudy-and-78-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
