Houston Dynamo vs. D.C. United Saturday, 12 May 2012 – 3:30 p.m. CT MLS regular season – Game #8 ‐ Home Game #1 BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, TX Broadcast Information
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Lester Gretsch (lgretsch@ 832‐633‐0632) Matt Pedersen (mpedersen@ 832‐794‐8673) Jonathan Kaplan (jkaplan@ 516‐965‐4664)
DYNAMO VS. D.C. UNITED – THE OPENING OF BBVA COMPASS STADIUM The Houston Dynamo (2‐3‐2; 8 points) welcome D.C. United (5‐3‐3; 18 points) to downtown Houston for the inaugural match at BBVA Compass Stadium. After a seven‐game road trip to begin the 2012 season, the Dynamo can settle in for two home games in four days as part of a stretch that includes four games in 11 days. Houston suffered a 1‐0 loss to the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday. Kenny Cooper tallied the winning goal in the seventh minute, pouncing on a slow back pass from Corey Ashe and blocking Tally Hall’s clearance attempt into an empty net. D.C. United earned a 2‐0 road win over Toronto FC on Saturday with Chris Pontius and Hamdi Salihi providing the goals. Saturday’s matchup marks the second of three meetings between United and Houston in 2012 after D.C. captured a 3‐2 win at RFK Stadium on April 28. Houston vs. D.C: The Dynamo have a 7‐4‐2 mark against D.C. United in 13 meetings all‐time. United’s 3‐2 win on April 28 ended a five‐game unbeaten run (4‐0‐1) for the Dynamo over D.C. In the 3‐2 win, Maicon Santos broke a 2‐2 tie with a 70th‐minute header for his second goal and match winner. Will Bruin scored a pair of equalizers for Houston, scoring in the 50th minute and then nine minutes later for his fourth goal in three games. Brian Ching leads all players in the series with six career goals against United. 2011 Meetings: In 2011, The Dynamo won the first meeting, 4‐1, at Robertson Stadium on April 29 behind Will Bruin’s first career hat trick. The teams played to a 2‐2 draw at RFK Stadium on June 25, with Brad Davis’ penalty and Brian Ching’s 89th‐minute equalizer cancelling out goals from Charlie Davies and Pontius.
DYNAMO NOTES Boswell Bicentennial: If Bobby Bowell plays against D.C. United on Saturday, it will be his 200th Major League Soccer appearance in his eight‐year career. Lineup Shuffle: Faced with the task of keeping players fresh at the start of a stretch of four games in 11 days, Dominic Kinnear made several changes to his lineup against New York. Calen Carr, Macoumba Kandji and Cam Weaver each made their first start of the season and regular starters Will Bruin, Brian Ching and Andre Hainault rested. Midfielder Alex Dixon also made his first appearance of the season as a second half substitute.