Oct. 16, 2010
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Their dreams of qualifying for a fifthconsecutive postseason since moving to Texas may be long dead, but the Houston Dynamo are not willing to mail in the remainder of their 2010 schedule.Houston defender Andrew Hainault scored with a diving header in the 23rd minute and Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric posted a shutout in his MLS debut as the former San Jose Earthquakes beat the current Quakes 1-0 on Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium.It was a second win in the space of four matches for Houston(8-15-6), who had been on a 2-11-5 slide since May 22, and allowed themto leapfrog Chivas USAand out of last place in the Western Conference. A victory in theirseason finale at home against Seattle would provide Houston a nice bitof momentum to carry into 2011.San Jose (12-9-7) lost for the second time in as many home games,and despite clinching a postseason berth with two weekends to spare,their performance against Houston on Saturday night was hardlyplayoff-worthy.Quakes coach Frank Yallop said earlier in the week that his foremostgoal for his teams final three matches was to avoid having anystarters get injured. That made things all the more frightening for SanJose in the first minute of the match when Houstons Corey Ashe fed a cross from the left wing to the edge of the Quakes six-yard box and keeper Jon Busch took an inadvertent boot to the head from Dynamo forward Cam Weaver.Weavers studs caused a laceration to Buschs left earlobe that bled quickly and profusely enough for Dynamo forward Dominic Oduroto call for a trainer. The game was delayed for seven minutes whileBusch had his head swathed in bandages and changed to a fresh jersey,but he continued in net.Busch could do nothing to keep out Hainaults diving header, which came off a corner kick by Brad Davis in the 23rd minute. The ball buzzed over the head of Quakes midfielder Bobby Convey, who was stationed at the near post, and rippled the roof of the net.That was hardly the Dynamos only bite at the apple. Davis, racing onto a loose pass from Sam Cronin,beat Busch from 35 yards but banged his shot off the left post in the37th minute. Weaver followed up in a matter of seconds with a freeheader from 10 yards that Busch did well to parry over the crossbar.Oduro had a free run at goal in the 66th minute after Ramiro Corrales making his first appearance since Aug. 7and Geovanni conspired toturn the ball over in the Quakes defensive third, but Busch chargedout and body-blocked Oduros attempt from 12 yards. It marked Busch'sthird stop of an Oduro shot on goal in the second half.With Tally Hall slowed by a high ankle sprain and Pat Onstadnursing a hand injury, Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear tapped thehomegrown Deric to man the nets on Saturday. The 22-year-old product ofthe Dynamo Academy became the firsthomegrown player to start an MLS game for Houston.The Quakes did not test Deric much, however, barely putting the ballon net and forcing Deric to make only three saves on the night. Dericbriefly bobbled his first touch, on a 30-yard rip from Chris Wondolowski in the 28th minute, but did well to cleanly hold a couple of second-half drives from Arturo Alvarez.San Jose did penetrate Houstons defense periodically with longballs ahead and passes back to cutting teammates, but on multipleoccasions, Houston defender Mike Chabala broke up the play with deft touches.Bobby Convey's 15-yard shot in second-half injury time glanced offthe outside of the near post. And Wondolowski almost forced a tie withthe final touch of the match, but his volley from 30 yardsoutparachuted just over the crossbar as the whistle sounded.
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