Dynamo forward Cam Weaver will miss Saturday's opener at FC Dallas, head coach Dominic Kinnear confirmed after training Monday. Weaver suffered a muscle strain in his right knee during last Wednesday's friendly against the San Jose Earthquakes when he and Ryan Johnson both went for a bouncing ball. Kinnear said he expects Weaver to miss 2-3 weeks.
The injury comes at an especially bad time for the 6-4 target forward, entering his second year with the Dynamo. He had a strong preseason, including goals against FC Dallas on February 27 and the Chicago Fire on March 11, and has had a prodigious goal-scoring rate when healthy for the Dynamo. He scored four goals in 450 minutes in all competitions for the Dynamo last year, including two at FC Dallas on June 13. Weaver missed July, August, and the first half of September last year due to a groin strain. He then scored in his first game back against Columbus on September 13.
In Weaver's absence, Dominic Oduro started and played 90 minutes in the Dynamo's 3-1 win over Chivas USA on Saturday in their final preseason game. Brian Ching and Luis Angel LandÃn split time at the other forward spot, with Ching expected to start Saturday.
Other than Weaver's injury, however, the Dynamo are very healthy. Brad Davis and Andrew Hainault, two of the chief injury concerns throughout the preseason with less than 100 minutes before Saturday, both saw time as substitutes against Chivas USA and trained fully on Monday. Richard Mulrooney has played in the last three games contested on a natural surface, going 88 minutes against Chivas USA. He did some work on his own Monday as he continues to work toward full fitness but should also be available for selection on Saturday against his former club.
After all, it was against Dallas on the road last year that Mulrooney notched his first goal since 2006 with a long-range blast. The Dynamo hope his presence this weekend yields a similar result.
