The Houston Dynamo and the Columbus Crew played to a 2-2 draw Saturday night at Crew Stadium as a stirring second half produced four goals in the final 31 minutes of play. Houston received goals from forwards Will Bruin and Brian Ching while Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven scored twice for Columbus.
Bruin scored for the second straight game, a 59th-minute header that he flicked to the far side netting off an Adam Moffat corner kick, delivering a 1-0 lead for the Dynamo.
Crew veteran Eddie Gaven equalized four minutes later, capitalizing on a breakdown in the Dynamo defense by collecting a loose ball at the top of the box and hitting a slow shot into an empty net after goalkeeper Tally Hall was unable to clear a back pass.
In the 74th minute, Gaven received a nice chest layoff from second-half substitute Aaron Schoenfeld just outside the penalty area and drilled a hard shot over Hall and under the cross bar for his second goal of the match.
Seven minutes later, Ching produced the vital equalizer. The veteran made a run behind the Columbus defense and was rewarded when Bruin delivered a quality bending cross behind the defense. Ching one-timed the ball with his left foot to place it into the left side of the net for his first goal of the season.
Hall preserved the tie in the 88th minute, stopping a flurry of rapid close-range chances from the Crew. Hall blocked a close header from Olman Vargas and then stopped the rebound from Vargas before Schoenfeld headed a third shot toward an empty net where Houston defender Andre Hainault cleared it off the line.
The Canadian defender made his 100th appearance for the Dynamo in all competitions.
The offensive affair yielded an 18-15 shot advantage for Columbus, although the Dynamo held an 8-6 advantage for shots on goal.
The Dynamo will play their sixth consecutive road game on Saturday when they travel to the nationa's capital for a match against D.C. United. The match will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and can be seen locally on KPRC Local 2 and heard locally on SportsTalk 790 and La Ranchera 850.
