The Houston Dynamo earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Chivas USA tonight to continue unbeaten (2-0) in the Texas Pro Soccer Festival.
Dwayne De Rosario broke the scoreless tie in the 12th minute of play. Chris Wondolowski played a ball to De Rosario in the middle of the field, and the Canadian international blasted a 30-yard shot to the upper right-hand corner of Chivas USA goalkeeper Lance Parker’s net for the 1-0 advantage.
Brad Davis almost increased the advantage for the Orange in the 14th minute with a free kick that went just past Parker’s left post. Richard Mulrooney (18th minute) and Brian Ching (26th minute) also had solid scoring chances during the first half.
In Tony Caig’s debut in goal for Houston, Chivas nearly tied up the score in the 33rd minute with a header by Justin Braun that went just out of Caig’s reach. Wade Barrett, however, made sure the Goats stayed scoreless, heading the ball out of bounds.
The Dynamo made a total of nine substitutions to start the second half, one of them being Argentine forward Franco Caraccio, making his first appearance of the preseason. Both teams struggled for field supremacy until the 67th minute, when Chukwudi Chijindu had another opportunity to get his team on the board with a hard, low shot to Caig’s left post. Caig, however, was able to get a hand on the ball to keep the Goats scoreless.
Chivas had one more chance in the 83rd minute on a header by Arnaldo Salazar off a corner kick, but the shot hit the crossbar.
Up next for the Dynamo is the final contest of the Texas Pro Soccer Festival against D.C. United. That contest is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, at Steele Stadium. The team will then head to Guatemala on Monday to take on CSD Municipal on Wednesday, as part of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup.
Chivas USA (0-2-0) vs. Houston Dynamo (2-0-0)
March 07, 2008 – Steele High School, Cibolo TX
2008 Texas Pro Soccer Festival
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Dwayne De Rosario (Chris Wondolowski) 12
Chivas USA -- Lance Parker, Bobby Burling, Shavar Thomas, Jim Curtin (Eric Ebert 46), Jonathan Bornstein (Jorge Flores 46) Kraig Chiles (Mike Uremovich 46) Jesse Marsch (Daniel Paladini 46), Chukwudi Chijindu, Lawson Vaughn (Gerson Mayen 46), Atiba Harris (Anthony Hamilton 46) Justin Braun (Arnaldo Salazar 74).
Houston Dynamo -- Tony Caig, Richard Mulrooney (Craig Waibel 46), Bobby Boswell (Geoff Cameron 46), Eddie Robinson (Steve Wondolowski 46), Wade Barrett (Johnny Alcaraz 62) Ricardo Clark (Kieran Hall 46, Brian Mullan 81), Brad Davis (Erik Ustruck 38) Dwayne De Rosario (Nick Hatzke 46), Corey Ashe (John Michael Hayden 46) Chris Wondolowski (Kyle Brown 46), Brian Ching (Franco Caraccio 46).
Attendance: 600
Weather: Clear-and-52 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
