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MLS Houston Dynamo FC

Houston Dynamo Game Notes -- July 28 at Toronto FC

July 26, 2012 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Houston Dynamo FC News Release


Saturday, 28 July 2012 - 3:30 p.m. CT

MLS regular season - Game #22 - Road Game #12

BMO Field, Toronto, ON

TV: Fox Sports Houston, MultiMedios 43

Radio: SportsTalk 790 AM, La Ranchera 850 AM (Spanish)

Toronto FC vs. Dynamo: Houston visits bmo with six-game unbeaten streak

The Houston Dynamo (9-5-7; 34 points) are unbeaten since their last visit to Canada, June 23 in Montreal, and will put their six-game unbeaten streak on the line when they visit Toronto FC (5-11-4; 19 points) on Saturday. The Dynamo rode a nine-point week into third place in the Eastern Conference as the club won three home games in seven days, with a combined score of 9-1 in wins over D.C. United, Sporting Kansas City and Montreal. Toronto earned a 2-1 win over Colorado in its last MLS match on July 18, and drew 1-1 with Liverpool of England in a July 21 friendly.

Houston vs. Toronto

Houston is 3-3-5 in regular season meetings with Toronto FC since TFC joined MLS in 2007. In the clubs' first meeting of 2012, June 20 in Houston, the Dynamo overcame a 3-1 deficit with two goals from Will Bruin, in the 73rd and 90th minutes, for a 3-3 draw. The teams split the 2011 series, with Toronto earning a 2-1 win at home on May 7, 2011 before the Dynamo defeated TFC, 2-0, at Robertson Stadium on July 9. Houston has never won at BMO Field, with a 0-2-3 mark, but all meetings have been decided by one goal or less.

DYNAMO PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (4-3-3, Right-Left)

Tally Hall;

Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Jermaine Taylor, Corey Ashe;

Boniek Garcia, Warren Creavalle, Brad Davis;

Calen Carr, Will Bruin, Macoumba Kandji

Dynamo Notes _

Dynamo score twice late for 3-0 win over Montreal: The Dynamo completed a remarkable three-game homestand on Saturday with their third win in seven days, a 3-0 triumph over Montreal. The Dynamo outscored D.C., Kansas City and Montreal 9-1 during the week, and climbed to third place in the Eastern Conference, just four points behind New York. Forward Macoumba Kandji scored twice for Houston in the 3-0 win, a deflected goal in the seventh minute, and then in the 89th minute, a brilliant run from midfield capped off with a cracking shot into the upper corner.

Calen Carr named MLS Player of the Week: Calen Carr was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 20 of the 2012 MLS season. Carr netted a bracehis first two goals of the MLS seasonin the Dynamo's 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on July 18. He also added an assistanother first for him in the 2012 campaignin Houston's 3-0 defeat of the Montreal Impact on July 21. In his seventh season in MLS, this is the first Player of the Week honor for Carr. It also represents Houston's first Player of the Week award this season.

Hard to beat in Houston: With Saturday's win over Montreal, the Dynamo improved to 7-0-3 at BBVA Compass Stadium since its opening on May 12. The Dynamo have not lost a home game in over a year, with their last home defeat on June 18, 2011, a 2-0 loss to the Columbus Crew. The Dynamo are unbeaten in 19 consecutive home games (playoffs included), spanning the final nine games at Robertson Stadium and the first ten games at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are tied with the New York Red Bulls for the league's best home record in 2012, with each club 7-0-3 at home.

Dynamo in historic home territory: The Dynamo have the longest regular season home unbeaten streak in Major League Soccer (18 games) and have set a new franchise record, eclipsing their previous mark of 17, from June 26, 2009 to June 20, 2010. Houston is now tied for the third longest home unbeaten streak in league history. New York has the second longest current streak in MLS (13 games). The chart below details the longest regular season home unbeaten streaks in Major League Soccer history:

TeamHome unbeaten streakStreak start dateStreak end dateReal Salt Lake296/6/20095/14/2011Columbus Crew226/28/20089/26/2009Houston Dynamo187/9/2011???LA Galaxy1810/24/201010/16/2011San Jose Earthquakes189/25/200410/8/2005Houston Dynamo176/26/20086/20/2009LA Galaxy177/4/20047/16/2005Toronto FC176/13/20098/7/2010

Three wins in a row: The Dynamo have won three consecutive regular season games for the first time since 2009, when the team matched a club-record with a five-game winning streak from May 23 - June 13, 2009. The Dynamo also recorded a five-game winning streak from June 3 - June 24, 2007.

Dynamo are unbeaten in six games: The Dynamo are unbeaten in their last six games (4-0-2). It is the longest regular season streak since the final six games of 2011, when the Dynamo went 4-0-2 to finish in second place in the Eastern Conference. The franchise record for consecutive games without a loss is 11, set from April 11 - June 20, 2009 (8-0-3), when the club tied a franchise record with five straight wins. Houston also had ten-game unbeaten streaks in 2007 (8-0-2) and 2006 (4-0-6).

Davis continues to climb MLS assist chart: Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis recorded his 87th and 88th career regular season assists in Saturday's win over Montreal. Davis is now alone in eighth on the league's all-time assist chart. Davis' next target is Cobi Jones, who sits is seventh on the all-time chart with 91 assists. Dynamo assistant coach Steve Ralston is the all-time leader, with 135 assists. Davis now has eight assists this season and is tied for third in MLS.

Davis, Cameron named All-Stars: Defender Geoff Cameron and midfielder Brad Davis were named to the inactive roster for the MLS All-Star Game. The Dynamo pair were among a group of 13 players named All-Stars that did not compete in Wednesday's 3-2 win against Chelsea FC. The 13 inactive All-Stars were voted on by the players. It is Cameron's third All-Star selection, having been named to the team in 2009 and 2011. It is the fourth straight year that Davis is an All-Star, and his fifth selection overall.

Daytime Dominance: The Dynamo will look to continue their excellent play in day games on Saturday at Toronto. The Dynamo are 4-1 in day games this year, with a 3-1 loss at Vancouver on June 10 their only loss in a day game this season. Houston has daytime wins over Chivas USA, San Jose, D.C. United and the Galaxy. The Dynamo are 5-4-7 in night games. Houston has only two more day games this season (Saturday at Toronto FC and Sept. 29 at Philadelphia).

Lopsided victory: Houston's 4-0 win over D.C. United on July 15 marked the first time the Dynamo have scored four goals in a game since April 29, 2011, when they beat D.C. United, 4-1, at Robertson Stadium. It was Houston's largest margin of victory in a regular season match since Aug. 20, 2008, when it defeated Chivas USA, 4-0, at Robertson Stadium.

Three's Company (shutouts): The Dynamo recorded their third consecutive shutout on July 15 (4-0 win over D.C. United) for the first time since May 30 - June 10, 2009, when they earned three shutouts vs. Toronto FC, Chicago and Chivas USA.

Ching ties Wolff, McBride for 12th on MLS all-time goal list: Dynamo forward Brian Ching scored his 80th career MLS regular season goal with his penalty against D.C. United on July 15. Ching moved past Preki and is now tied with Josh Wolff (still active with D.C. United) and Brian McBride for 12th on the all-time scoring list. Ching is now two goals away from tying Raul Diaz Arce, who is next on the chart with 82 goals.

Bruin hits ten goals: Dynamo forward Will Bruin scored his tenth goal of the season on July 15 vs. D.C. United. The second-year forward is tied for fourth in the MLS Golden Boot race with Thierry Henry of New York. San Jose striker Chris Wondolowski leads MLS with 17 goals while New York's Kenny Cooper has 13 and Alvaro Saborio of Real Salt Lake has 11.

Hall surpasses 2011 shutout total: Tally Hall recorded his eighth shutout of the season on Saturday vs. Montreal, extending his career-high after notching six in 2011. Hall is tied for second in the league in shutouts with Nick Rimando of Real Salt Lake and Joe Cannon of Vancouver. Jimmy Nielsen (SKC) leads MLS with nine clean sheets. Goalkeeper Pat Onstad set a franchise record with 11 shutouts in 2007, when the club had a total of 13 clean sheets in 30 regular season games.

Dynamo newcomer Boniek Garca continues strong start: The Dynamo are unbeaten (4-0-2) since Honduran midfielder Boniek Garca's debut on June 30 and have allowed just two goals in six games. Furthermore, Garcia has a goal and two assists, and has played 90 minutes in all six games. The 27-year-old Designated Player signed with Houston on June 7 after playing for Honduran powerhouse C.D. Olimpia since 2007 after his first tenure with the club from 2003-06. With Garca, Olimpia captured the 2011-12 Honduran League Apertura and Clausura championships. The midfielder debuted for the Honduras national team in 2005 and has 69 appearances for his country, including five appearances in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Dynamo will face Olimpia in CONCACAF Champions League group play on Aug. 30 in Honduras and Oct. 23 in Houston.

Boswell is Mr. Reliable: Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell has played full time in 31 consecutive MLS matches (playoffs included) dating to Sept. 14, 2011 at Columbus. The center back is the only Dynamo field player to play every minute of every MLS game in 2012. Boswell has now started 132 regular season games with the Dynamo and is now third on the franchise list for regular season starts.

Ching reaches third on Dynamo games played list: Brian Ching made his 185th Dynamo appearance in all competitions on July 7 at Kansas City. He passed Brian Mullan for third on Houston's all-time games list.

Bruin in elite sophomore company: Forward Will Bruin is in elite company for second-year players in MLS. Bruin is tied for second in scoring for players who debuted in MLS in 2011, with 15 goals in 46 games. Toronto FC's Danny Koevermans leads second-years players with 17 goals while Vancouver's Camilo is tied with Bruin for second with 15 goals.

East Coast Bias: The Dynamo are currently eight games into a stretch of 15 consecutive games against Eastern Conference teams. Houston has seven games remaining on the Eastern stretch and is 5-3-6 overall vs. the Eastern Conference. The next time the Dynamo face a team from the Western Conference is Sept. 6, when they host Real Salt Lake.

More Bruin: Bruin now has 15 regular season goals in his two-year career. Bruin is tied with Stuart Holden for fourth on the franchise list. Dwayne De Rosario (24 goals) is next on the franchise list.

Cameron makes 100th start vs. D.C.: Geoff Cameron made his 100th regular season start for the Dynamo on July 15 vs. D.C. United. He is the sixth player in franchise history to make 100 regular season starts.

Davis passes De Ro for second on Dynamo scoring list: Brad Davis' goal in the first half on June 30 was his 25th regular season goal with the Dynamo. He moved past Dwayne De Rosario into second on the franchise scoring list.

Bruin in historic Dynamo territory: Bruin's 10 goals are the most for a Dynamo player since Brian Ching set a franchise record with 13 goals in 2008. Bruin reached 9 goals in the fastest number of games (15) in team history. Ching reached 9 goals in Houston's 16th game in 2006, but Ching missed six of those games due to U.S. men's national team duties for the 2006 World Cup. Ching scored his ninth goal of 2006 in his tenth game of the season. Bruin's first 9 goals in 2012 came in a 12-game stretch (April 15 at Chicago to June 23 at Montreal).

Three in a row for Bruin: Will Bruin scored in three consecutive games (6/16, 6/20, 6/23) for the second time this season (4/15, 4/21, 4/28), with four goals in each three-game scoring streak. He is the first Dynamo player with a pair of three-game scoring streaks in the same season, and just the second player to record two streaks overall (Ching). His last streak marked the sixth time a Dynamo player has scored in three consecutive games (Bruin 2012 (twice); Ching 2006, 2008; Joseph Ngwenya 2007; Stuart Holden 2009). No Dynamo player has ever scored in four consecutive games.

Possession: The Dynamo have won the possession battle in 17 of 21 games on the season. The Dynamo had 58 percent possession on Saturday against Montreal, a season-high 71% against Kansas City and 67% vs. D.C. United. Houston lost the possession battle to Sporting KC on July 7, 50.2%-49.8%, had 61% possession vs. Chicago on July 3, 55% vs. Philadelphia, lost the possession battle, 53-47%, at Montreal, had 63% possession vs. Toronto, 54% against FC Dallas, 54% at Vancouver, 60% vs. LA, 62% at New England, 60% vs. Portland, 56% vs. D.C., 53% at New York, 54% at D.C., a 49-51% disadvantage at Columbus, 55% at Chicago, 56% at Seattle, a disadvantage (48-52%) at San Jose, and 53% at Chivas USA.

Dynamo are defensive in final 15 minutes: Houston has allowed the fewest goals (1) in MLS after the 75th minute. The only goal conceded by Houston in the final quarter hour was June 10 at Vancouver, when Jordan Harvey scored in the 88th minute.

Ching ties Mullan for second on assists chart: With his assist on June 23 at Montreal, Brian Ching reached 19 regular season assists with the Dynamo to move into a tie for second with Brian Mullan on the franchise list.

Hall sets goalkeeper consecutive starts record: Tally Hall set a franchise record for consecutive starts by a goalkeeper with his 47th consecutive starts against FC Dallas on June 16. He broke the record of 46 games set by Pat Onstad from Sept. 13, 2008 - May 13, 2010. Hall started all 34 games in 2011 and the first 21 games in 2012, pushing the active record to 55 games. Hall has the second longest active streak MLS goalkeepers, behind Matt Pickens of Colorado (64 starts).

Champions League schedule announced: The Dynamo learned its schedule in Group 3 of the 2012-2013 CONCACAF Champions League on June 22. Houston will open group play with two road games - Aug. 22 at C.D. FAS of El Salvador and Aug. 30 at C.D. Olimpia of Honduras. The Dynamo will host FAS on Sept. 20 and Olimpia on Oct. 23 at BBVA Compass Stadium. The group winner will advance to the quarterfinals, set for March 2013. The Dynamo qualified for the tournament by advancing to the 2011 MLS Cup Final. This is the fifth appearance for the Dynamo in the regional championship, including semifinal runs in the 2007 and 2008 Champions Cup tournaments. It is the first appearance for the Dynamo in Champions League since they advanced to the quarterfinals in 2008-2009.

Corey Ashe made has 185th appearances for the Dynamo in all competitions on July 3 vs. Chicago to pass Brian Mullan for second on the franchise list for appearances in all competitions.

Wonderful vs. West: With the 2-1 win over FC Dallas on June 16, the Dynamo improved to 4-2-1 on the season against the heralded Western Conference. Houston has wins against FC Dallas, LA Galaxy, San Jose and Chivas USA.

Second Half Savants: Houston's 3-0 win over Montreal on Saturday improved its record to 9-1-6 when tied or leading at the break. The Dynamo are 4-1-6 in games in which they were tied at halftime and 5-0 when leading at halftime. Houston is 0-4-1 when trailing at the interval after its comeback draw with Toronto on June 20.

First Comeback Win: The Dynamo recorded a 2-1 win on May 26 over the LA Galaxy for their first come-from-behind win of the season. Prior to the Galaxy game, the Dynamo were 0-3-1 on the season when allowing the first goal of the game.

Cameron's streak ends: Geoff Cameron missed the May 26 game with the Galaxy while playing for the U.S. in its 5-1 win over Scotland. It was the first MLS game that Cameron missed since May 4, 2011 vs. Colorado. Prior to May 26, Cameron had started and played full time in 40 consecutive matches (playoffs included), the longest streak among Houston field players in team history. Cameron played 3,576 consecutive minutes in MLS play (playoffs included) before his latest absence. In a similar feat, Brad Davis' streak of 45 consecutive starts was broken at Chicago on April 15 due to a calf strain.

BBVA Compass Stadium opener: The Dynamo opened the 13th soccer-specific stadium in Major League Soccer on May 12. On a gorgeous, 82-degree day in front of a sell-out crowd of 22,039, the Dynamo honored past legends, including Wade Barrett, Pat Onstad, Eddie Robinson and Craig Waibel in a pregame ceremony that included the unveiling of 2006 and 2007 MLS Cup championship banners. Brad Davis provided a signature opening moment, delivering a beautiful, curling 30-yard strike for the game-winning goal in the 67th minute.

Clutch: Luiz Camargo's 87th-minute equalizer at New England on May 19 was Houston's third late goal on the road this season. Brian Ching's equalizer in the 81st minute at Columbus on April 21 and Hainault's game-winner two minutes into stoppage time at Chivas USA on March 11 were also reminiscent of 2011 for the Dynamo. Last year, Houston scored 14 goals in the final 15 minutes of games, the second most in MLS (Seattle).

Six years after the club's first match on April 2, 2006, only two players remain on the Dynamo roster: Brian Ching and Brad Davis. Defender Eddie Robinson retired in January and joined the front office as an assistant coach with the team's Youth Academy and as a color analyst on TV broadcasts.

UP NEXT: Dynamo begin crucial home-and-home series with New York

The Dynamo will play the New York Red Bulls - currently in first place in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of the Dynamo - in consecutive Friday night games, beginning on Aug. 3 in Houston.

Injury Report Presented by The Methodist Center for Sports Medicine (As of Tuesday, July 14)

HOUSTON DYNAMO

None

TORONTO FC

OUT: GK Stefan Frei (L lower leg); FW Danny Koevermans (L knee ACL tear);

QUESTIONABLE: FW Nicholas Lindsay (L knee surgery recovery); DF Jeremy Hall (L hamstring strain)

Check out the Houston Dynamo FC Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from July 26, 2012


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