Although Saturday's contest at Crew Stadium featured two clubs with largely conflicting positions within their respective standings, a common denominator was evident: the postseason destiny of each club delicately hung in the balance. The resulting 1-1 draw only heightened the apprehension.
While Houston Dynamo came to Ohio in second place in the Western Conference, just four points separated them from fifth-place Real Salt Lake. But a loss by the Columbus Crew would have resulted in almost certain elimination from the MLS Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season, leaving them eight points out of fourth place with three games left.
An early second-half goal from nearly 30 yards away by Dwayne De Rosario temporarily tilted the balance in the favor of Houston.
"I had the opportunity to shoot," De Rosario said. "I took the shot, stayed low, and [aimed] to the corner. I saw the 'keeper drifting a little bit to his left, and then I just hit it."
De Rosario's shot skimmed across the damp Crew Stadium turf, and beat Crew 'keeper Bill Gaudette inside his near post.
"He hit a left-footed ball from pretty far out," Gaudette said. "I wasn't able to see it until late. He snuck it right inside the back of the post and on a night like this you hit the ball low and hard and it's going to be trouble for the 'keepers."
Saturday's goal was De Rosario's 11th of the season, moving him past Brian Ching for the team lead.
Despite controlling the entire first half and a majority of the second, Houston gave up the equalizer to a desperate Crew squad in the 80th minute. The goal came from a set piece that was capped off by a Jason Garey header.
"We've been working on it in practice for about two weeks," Garey said. "We've been talking about it all year, about trying to get goals off set pieces."
Despite the late comeback, the single point secured by the draw left Columbus less than content.
"At the end of the day we are not going to get into a playoff spot one point at a time," said Crew head coach Sigi Schmid. "[It takes] three points in a game."
"We've got to try to win every game," said Garey. "We still have a statistical chance to get in there so we're going to keep working on it."
Coupled with Kansas City's 1-1 draw in New England, the Crew are still seven points out of fourth place with the final three matches remaining. However, Saturday's draw ensured that Columbus has no more room for error -- anything but victories in their final three games, and they will certainly not make the postseason.
The result also didn't do much for a Dynamo squad discontented with the outcome.
"It is a pretty despondent locker room," said Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear. "If they were all over us and we were just scraping to get a tie ... then you think, well, OK, point earned. The disappointing thing tonight was just knowing how we played and to still only walk away with a draw."
Said De Rosario: "Anything less than three points, I consider a loss."
It was also a second consecutive draw for Houston and a third in the last five games. Dynamo have won just twice in the last 12 games.
"We cannot seem to be able to put teams away when we're given the chance," said dejected Dynamo 'keeper Pat Onstad.
With the draw, Houston now has 41 points and moved five points ahead of Real Salt Lake after their 2-1 loss to FC Dallas on Saturday -- important because that's where the playoff dividing line is.
"I don't care about the other games," said De Rosario. "We have to create our own destiny by winning. Once we do our work on our field then we don't have to worry about what anybody else is doing."
Ryan D. Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
