Dynamo welcome Austin FC to renovated Shell Energy Stadium: What to watch for
The Houston Dynamo will debut the newly renovated Shell Energy Stadium in tonight’s home opener against Austin FC. Houston comes into this match off a much-needed bye week after losing their first two matches of 2023. Austin won their MLS match last weeked in Salt Lake but were eliminated from the Concacaf Champions League in the midweek.
When: Saturday, March 18 | 7:39 PM CT kickoff
Where: Shell Energy Stadium; Houston, Texas
TV/Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV - Free
Radio: 97.5 FM (English), 93.3 FM (Spanish)
Welcome home
It’s been 5 months since the Dynamo played a home match in MLS and the long wait ends tonight. The team returns to play in front of the home fans and in a nearly new stadium. The name has changed, the seats have changed, and much of the concourse looks very different. Shell Energy is now the naming rights partner and owner Ted Segal has injected a lot of cash to install new mesh seats and bring in ten local restaurant partners to help inhance the fan experience. We got a chance to see the stadium yesterday and taste some of the new food that will be available beginning today and I can say, the fan experience is going to be unlike anything Houston soccer fans have had before. Making fans comfortable and filling their bellies with good food is part of the equation. Now about the product on the field…
Goals win games
You have to score to win a soccer game. I know that is some ground-breaking analytics you didn’t expect in this article, but it’s simple and true. The Dynamo have just one goal in four halves of soccer the season, a Tate Schmitt header in first half stoppage time in Cincinnati. Houston has done well in creating chances, as we talked about on this week’s Bayou City Soccer Podcast, but now they need to finish those chances. And a win, a win would go a long way. Winning at home is vital in MLS, especially for a team that has struggled so much on the road. “We want to win. We're at home, we want to reward our fans,” head coach Ben Olsen said in his weekly press conference. “We're 0-2, of course we want to win a game. That's what we'll go after and that's what we've been preparing to do by working on ourselves and pushing some of the areas that we feel we need to grow in. Then also make sure we're prepared against a very good Austin team. Our plan is to reward our fans with a win and go after the game. Protecting our home field advantage is something that we have not done a great job with over the last few years. To me, it's a recipe for getting into the playoffs. If you take care of your home games, you should be in a good spot to play in the postseason. Without that, you have a very, very small chance to do that. So that starts this weekend.”
Stunned Opposition
Tonight’s opponent, Austin FC, comes to town on the heels of an embarrassing elimination from the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday. The Verde lost 3-0 to Haitian side Violette AC in the Dominican Republic in the first leg two weeks ago. The Violette team, who hasn’t played a league match in nearly a year due to unrest in Haiti, then came to Austin with only 14 players because of visa issues. Austin was only able to win 2-0 at Q2 Stadium and were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate. Now Austin takes teh short trip to Houston looking to right the wrongs. Josh Wolff’s side will also come in a little fatigued, having played two midweek games in CCL around their weekend MLS games. Will Austin put out a strong starting eleven? Will they be down in a funk after suffering the loss to Violette and an earlier home loss to expansion side St. Louis? Or will the CCL embarrassment lead to a revitalized team looking to make amends against an in-state rival? These are the questions we will find out answers to tonight.
Availability Report
Houston Dynamo - Out: Brad Smith (left knee); Questionable: Franco Escobar (lower body injury), Xavier Valdez (lower body injury)
Austin FC – Out: Julio Cascante (left adductor)
Predicted Lineup
