It took five tries in three competitions this season, but the Houston Dynamo finally defeated Seattle Sounders FC -- and in doing so reached the Western Conference Championship for the third time in four seasons.
It took a goal by Brian Ching in extra time, but Houston held on from there to defeat Seattle, 1-0, Sunday at Robertson Stadium and await either the Los Angeles Galaxy or Chivas USA in next weekend's conference final.
In four games this year, the Dynamo were 0-2-2 against Seattle, having lost in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup in Seattle earlier this year, dropped a regular season game in Seattle and tied Sounders FC in the lone regular season affair in Houston.
After playing to a draw in the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series 10 days ago at Qwest Field, the mission was pretty simple for Houston -- win or go home.
Ching gave Houston the lead with a goal in the 96th minute, ending a scoring drought of nearly two months. Mike Chabala sent a cross from the left through the box where Seattle's Sebastian Le Toux was unable to clear and the ball bounced off Brian Mullan back to the middle of the area. Ching sent a flying side volley into the upper left corner of the goal, his first goal since Sept. 19.
The goal gave Houston its first lead in the playoffs since the Orange won the second of back-to-back MLS Cups in 2007.
Houston had its first chance in the third minute when Dominic Oduro sent a cross into the middle of the box for Ching, who sent a bicycle kick over Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller. James Riley, however, was there to clear the Ching kick inside the six-yard box before it could find the near post.
Seattle countered in the 12th minute with its first legitimate chance of the game, but Steve Zakuani's one-timer went high over the crossbar. Oduro, who was arguably the best player on the field Sunday, followed that with the first of many near misses in the first half.
Ricardo Clark sent in a cross to Oduro in the 16th minute, but he missed the header, and he couldn't get a foot on it for a rebound as Keller bobbled the ball. Oduro found some space in the 23rd minute outside the area on the left and sent a blistering shot toward goal, but his bullet bounced off the left post.
Keller finished with four saves in the game. Many were of the routine variety, but the Dynamo fumbled away many of their scoring chances before putting them on goal.
In the 28th minute, Oduro sent a cross from the right of the area into the middle for a sliding Brian Mullan, but his shot went right to Keller for the save. Oduro, however, was not done as he again found space on a breakaway, but his shot from 20 yards out on the right was wide of the near post in the 30th minute.
After controlling possession for much of the first half, Houston's Pat Onstad was called upon a couple of times -- and the most dangerous chances came from his own teammates. Early on, a cross from the left was nearly turned into his own goal by center back Geoff Cameron, but Onstad quickly dove to push the ball wide.
Then in the 43rd minute he had to make two saves. The first came off a direct kick as Freddie Ljungberg sent it in to Nate Jaqua. Jaqua's bouncer from the top edge of the area was headed up and off the crossbar by Clark, and Onstad batted it out. Fredy Montero, however, got a foot on the rebound, and Onstad had to again bat it out.
Oduro tried to give Houston the lead early in the second half, but his shot from the left went straight to Keller, who easily grabbed it. In the 70th minute, Ching nearly gave Houston the lead with a one-timer from the left side of the box that went right to Keller.
Houston had two opportunities in the 87th and 88th minutes, but Mullan and Luis Angel Landin were whistled offside.
After Ching's goal, Ljungberg nearly knotted the score with a bullet from a narrow angle 25 yards out on the left, but Onstad timed his jump perfectly and tipped the ball over the net.
Frustrations from the hard-fought, intense match boiled over in the final minutes of the game as Seattle's James Riley was sent off for a hard tackle on Clark.
Despite the win, Houston does lose Chabala for the West final as he was issued for his second yellow card of the series in the 44th minute and will have to sit out the conference championship.
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
