HOUSTON – After falling last weekend to the San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo players returned to practice this week vowing to push on despite some tough odds at reaching the postseason.
“We played some of our best football and we were very unfortunate not to come away with three points,” midfielder Danny Cruz said. “However, we still have a chance, and by no means are we out until someone tells us we are mathematically out. If it takes seven wins, we ... start [with the next game] and hope to make something happen.”
The Dynamo return to action on Sept. 18 against Toronto FC. At 6-12-5 with 23 points, they're nine points out of the eighth and final postseason spot and in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since the franchise moved to Houston.
“It is a pretty dire situation right now,” Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad said. “Mathematically, we’re still in it.”
For a team that has won only once in the past three months against MLS opposition, the likelihood of Houston running off a seven-game winning streak to close the season seems like a Herculean task.
“It’s a long shot,” said defender Mike Chabala. “We have to win games. There is still a way, which is unbelievable with our track record, but all we have to do is win the first one.”
Regardless, that is not stopping the Dynamo players from digging in and giving it their all to try to string a series of wins together.
“You never count a team out that has a chance,” defender Bobby Boswell said. “We have to go out and put the work in and get them one at a time.”
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSsoccer.com. Questions or Comments can be sent via email to dwaincapodice@gmail.com.
