This week, the Dynamo Classic Rewind series on HoustonDynamo.com will look at a pair of monumental victories on the road during the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City rivalry ramped up a notch in the first of three consecutive playoff meetings in 2011. The Dynamo were dealt a curveball as Brad Davis left the 2011 Eastern Conference Final in the first half due to injury, but Houston silenced more than 20,000 fans at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, now Children’s Mercy Park, after Andrew Hainault capitalized on a rebound inside the box for the game-winning goal. Honduran international Carlo Costly caused a mass exodus after scoring the second and final goal in the 87th minute to claim the conference championship.
The Dynamo would need a similar performance in the 2017 Western Conference semifinals to advance to its seventh conference final in club history. Houston and the Portland Timbers played to a scoreless draw in the fist leg at BBVA Stadium, so the Dynamo traveled to the Pacific Northwest on Nov. 6, 2017 in a must-win game to extend their season and eight-game unbeaten streak. The Timbers took the lead late in the first half, but the game would go into halftime level after Dylan Remick scored off a side volley minutes before the halftime whistle. Mauro Manotas secured a spot in the Western Conference Final with an uncontested shot from outside the box late in the second half, his first postseason goal with the club.
