Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas Saturday, 24 September 2011 – 3 p.m. CT MLS regular season Pizza Hut Park, Frisco TX Broadcast Information TV: TeleFutura Radio: La Ranchera 850
Dynamo Media Contacts (@HoustonDynamo.com) Lester Gretsch (lgretsch@ 832-633-0632) Jonathan Yardley (jyardley@ 713-876-4500) Jonathan Kaplan (jkaplan@ 516-965-4664)
DYNAMO AT FC DALLAS The Dynamo return to the road on Saturday to take on in-state rival FC Dallas in the teams’ second and final regular season meeting. El Capitán, the Civil War-era mountain howitzer awarded to the winner of the season series, remains up for grabs after the teams played to a 2-2 tie in Houston on May 28. If the teams tie again and do not meet in the postseason, FC Dallas will retain the cannon. Houston leads the all-time series 9-4-7 in all competitions.
DYNAMO NOTES
Although the Dynamo have controlled the all-time series, Houston has not beaten Dallas in their last four competitive meetings (0-2-2), dating back to a 3-1 Dynamo win on June 13, 2009, one of two Houston road wins in the all-time series. The other came almost four years ago, on September 30, 2007.
The Dynamo and FC Dallas take more shots than all other teams, with Dallas firing a league-high 414 shots and the Dynamo second with 397. However, the teams rank fifth (Houston) and 11th (Dallas) in shots on goal and 10th (Houston) and 11th (Dallas) in goals per game.
The Dynamo’s 79th-minute goal last Saturday was the ninth time this season Houston has scored in the final 11 minutes of a match to win or tie a game, including five road ties. The goal was the first since April 29 for rookie forward Will Bruin and made him the highest scorer among MLS rookies.
Houston has scored first in 10 out of 30 games on the season; the Dynamo are 6-1-3 when notching the first goal and 3-8-7 when the opponent scores first; there have been two 0-0 ties. Houston’s 10 results when allowing the first goal are the most in MLS; the Dynamo’s winning percentage when allowing the first goal (.361) ranks third.
Midfielder Brad Davis leads Major League Soccer with 159 corner kicks, the second-highest singleseason total in league history. The all-time record is held by D.C. United’s Marco Etcheverry, who took 198 corner kicks in a 32-game season in 1998. Etcheverry also ranks third and fourth on the list, with Dynamo assistant coach Steve Ralston fifth, having taken 130 corner kicks in a 30-game season in 2007.
Despite coming off the bench as a substitute, midfielder Danny Cruz has assisted on dramatic goals in consecutive games, starting the plays that led to Calen Carr’s goal against Columbus and Will Bruin’s tally against San Jose. Cruz now has three assists on the season, a career high and tied for the thirdhighest total on the team.
The Dynamo injury report for Saturday’s match includes midfielders Alex Dixon (finger fracture) and Adam Moffat (concussion).