Dynamo 2sday: Dos get back to winning ways
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
While the world was watching Major League Soccer’s presentation of a certain individual who will now be wearing the pink in South Beach, in Texas we had another Texas Showdown as Houston Dynamo 2 hosted North Texas SC on a hot Sunday night in South Houston.
Off the heels of a defeat in Austin against a really good Austin II team, this Dynamo looked to get back to the win column after four defeats in a row. “For us, we tweaked a lot this week as far as the messaging from me and them,” head coach Kenny Bundy said before the match. “There's no reinventing the wheel. We have a style, we have a system, we have principles of how we want to do things. We've shown that to get results. Now it's about making sure that we are very clear with the messaging and then the execution part of it. That way the players feel like they can go out and execute what's been given to them and be themselves, express themselves and get results.”
Xavier Valdez got the start in goal, with Talen Maples, Tate Lampman and Mujeeb Murana in front of him. Sebastian Rodriguez set up in front of that line, with Chase Gasper to his right and Isaiah LeFlore on his left to give the team some width on the attacking side of things. In the middle of the field, were both Gonzalez, Yair and Diego, as they looked to use the individual skills on the ball to create more offensive chances. Up top, Bundy would field both Jacob Evans and Ezekiel Soto to put away the chances.
The home side would strike first, in the 57th minute, from a play straight off the training ground. A short corner from Diego Gonzalez to Evans would set up a beautiful one-two play. Evans put a nice ball between two North Texas defenders and Diego set up with his left foot, eluded a third defender, and blasted a rocket with his right foot to give Dynamo 2 a 1-0 lead.
North Texas would get a tying goal only a few minutes later on a perfect counterattack in the 63rd minute. Hope Avayevu got a nice ball over the top from a defender and beat Lampman to the pass. He then set up Pablo Torre, who received the ball with no-one around him and took an almost point blank shot against Valdez to level the score.
Only a couple of minutes later, Dynamo 2 would get their second goal and the winner from a nice build up play. Leflore got on the end of a deflected clearance and curled the ball around the keeper with his left foot to put Houston back on top.
After 90 minutes of a pretty even match up, Dynamo 2 came out victorious and remaind undefeated against the neighbors from up north. Next up on the schedule is Minnesota United FC II, who has also never been able to win against this Houston side. That match will take place on Sunday, July 23 at 6 PM at SaberCats Stadium. Another home match for the Dynamo where they will look to hop in front of Minnesota who only sit in front of them in the Western Conference by one point.
Don’t forget to follow this match on Apple TV MLS Season Pass, and stay tuned to Bayou City Soccer social media accounts for a chance to win free tickets to attend and support the next generation of homegrown Dynamo stars.
Once again, VAMOS LOS PIBES!!! Like always, HOUSTON CONTRA TODOS!!!
