FINAL ~ Houston Dynamo 1 - 1 FC Dallas

90'

Pablo Ricchetti takes an indirect freekick with his right foot from the left channel.

90'

Throw-in: Guerreiro Andre Rocha takes it

90'

Throw-in: Wade Barrett takes it

FINAL 1-1

Better luck next time Houston.

Kenny Cooper scored the tying goal in the 62nd minute Thursday, helping FC Dallas play to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo.

Cooper's eighth tally of the season served as the equalizer for Brian Ching's goal in the 21st minute for the Dynamo, who have played FC Dallas to a draw each of the three times the teams have played this season.

Goalkeeper Pat Onstad turned away three shots for the Dynamo (4-4-7) while his counterpart, Dario Sala, recorded four saves for FC Dallas (4-6-5).

Cooper "El Capitan" with header
HOUSTON -- New FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman earned the first point of his MLS coaching career as his team came back to claim a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on MLS Primetime Thursday at Robertson Stadium.

Brian Ching's goal in the 21st minute gave the Dynamo the lead, but Kenny Cooper scored in the 62nd minute to give FC Dallas their second draw this season in Houston.

With the tie, the Hoops will claim "El Capitan," the 18th-century cannon that goes to the winner of the season series between the intrastate rivals. Though the series resulted in three draws, FC Dallas won by tiebreaker on the strength of a 4-2 advantage in goals scored away from home.

It was the first time that FC Dallas secured the trophy, with Houston taking the season series in both 2006 and 2007.

The result puts the Hoops in a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with Chivas USA at 17 points, only two points behind Houston and Real Salt Lake, who are tied for second place.

FC Dallas struggled offensively in the first half. Midfielder Arturo Alvarez mustered the Hoops' only shot of the half, a slow roller that was easily scooped up by Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

The Hoops' best chance of the first half came in the 15th minute, when forward Marcelo Saragosa received a prodigious throw-in from defender Adrian Serioux inside the box and looked to have an opportunity to launch a nasty shot from the left side. But Saragosa was stripped and the ball cleared before he could fire the shot.

The Hoops fell behind in the 21st minute when Ching headed a cross from the right side by Houston defender Craig Waibel into the back of the net. Ching found an open spot just a few yards in front of the net between FC Dallas midfielder Andre Rocha and defender Duilio Davino and sent the ball in from close range.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala was tested early and often, keeping the Hoops in the game with diving saves of a Waibel header in the 10th minute and a Dwayne De Rosario bicycle kick in the 20th. Sala finished the evening with four saves.

After the break, FC Dallas turned up the pressure. The attack began in the 58th minute when midfielder Juan Toja sent a scorching volley towards the net, but unfortunately straight at Onstad.

Cooper evened the score in the 62nd minute. Midfielder Juan Toja sent a cross in from the left side, and Cooper ran on to the ball, leaping to meet it and flick it towards the back post for the goal. In the 90th minute, FC Dallas forward Dominic Oduro stole a pass from Houston's Ricardo Clark and sidestepped Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell to create a clear path between himself and the goal. Clark slid in from behind to disrupt Oduro's shot as he took it, sending the ball high and off target, but no foul was called. The teams played with an almost frantic energy in the last 20 minutes of the match, with neither side willing to settle for a tie with El Capitan at stake. But neither team could break through the other's defense.

FC Dallas will play host CD Guadalajara in an international friendly on June 29 and Miami FC in U.S. Open Cup action on July 1 before returning to MLS league play with a July 4 match against the Kansas City Wizards at Pizza Hut Park. The Houston Dynamo will face the Charleston Battery in a U.S. Open Cup on July 1 before traveling to Utah on Thurs., July 3 to play Real Salt Lake.

FC Dallas (4-6-5) vs. Houston Dynamo (4-4-7)
June 26, 2008 -- Robertson Stadium

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Brian Ching 6 (Craig Waibel 1) 21
DAL -- Kenny Cooper 8 (Juan Toja 2) 62

FC Dallas -- Dario Sala, Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Adrian Serioux, Aaron Pitchkolan (Dominic Oduro 46), Andre Rocha, Arturo Alvarez (Dax McCarty 77), Pablo Ricchetti, Juan Toja (Eric Avila 85), Marcelo Saragosa, Kenny Cooper,

Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Bobby Rhine, Abe Thompson, Blake Wagner

Houston Dynamo -- Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Bobby Boswell, Patrick Ianni, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan (Geoff Cameron 84), Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 91+), Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Ching.

Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Brown, Chris Wondolowski, Tony Caig, Franco Caraccio, Richard Mulrooney

Draw deals "El Capitan" to FCD
HOUSTON -- For the third time this season, FC Dallas played to a draw with the Houston Dynamo. But the 1-1 tie on MLS Primetime Thursday at Robertson Stadium meant the Hoops left south Texas as winners.

The 1-1 result gave the Hoops the right to claim "El Capitan," the 18th-century cannon that goes to the winner of the season series between the intrastate rivals. FC Dallas won the season series by tiebreaker on the strength of a 4-2 advantage in goals away from home.

Despite the even result, new FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman felt his team came out ahead.

"The guys in this locker room feel that they came away feeling like they accomplished something," Hyndman said. "Tying this team, which won the last two MLS titles, three times this season, tells you how this team is built mentally."

The tie came after a strong offensive showing in the second half, when Hyndman made an adjustment from the 4-4-2 he wants to install to the 3-5-2 FC Dallas had been using earlier in the season.

"I thought the Dynamo did a very good job in the first half," Hyndman said. "We were in a flat back four system and we were having trouble with Brad Davis coming into the center unmarked and we knew that they would be very strong on the services."

"[In the] second half, we went into a 3-5-2 and saw a different Dallas team that came out more aggressive and held the ball a little better."

That attacking thrust led to forward Kenny Cooper's game-tying goal in the 62nd minute, assisted by midfielder Juan Toja.

"We made a tactical change at halftime," Cooper said, "Schellas saw the changes in the first half and told us to be more assertive, we were fortunate to have Juan make some quality moves in order for me to be in position to score."

"Our goal was Juan Toja going up the left side where he was able to keep possession, beat a couple of players, serve a great goal and Kenny Cooper scored a great header and put us into the 1-1 game," Hyndman said. "We were happy to come away with a point."

That point moves FC Dallas into a tie for fourth place in the extremely tight race for the Western Conference title. The Hoops and Chivas USA are tied in fourth place with 17 points, and are only two points behind the Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake, who are tied for second. The LA Galaxy lead the conference with 21 points.

"We knew this was going to be a 90-plus-minute battle tonight, with them being the league champs," Cooper said. "We just needed to keep our composure coming out in the second half."

Over the three-year history of the Dynamo, FC Dallas still has not claimed a victory in Houston. But Thursday's result came awfully close to one.

"[We were] down 1-0 on the road, we're just happy to come away with a 1-1 tie and I think we were happy with the season series," Hyndman said.

Houston hang on to hope in tie
HOUSTON - Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear didn't hesitate when he was asked if his team was still one of the league's elite after suffering yet another tie on Thursday night at Robertson Stadium.

"Yes," the coach said after watching his team earn what he called a sour point in a 1-1 tie against FC Dallas that dropped his team to 4-4-6 on the season. "Because I know them, and I watch them play."

Brian Ching and Kenny Cooper, two players who are no strangers to scoring goals against each other's teams, made it another kiss-your-sister night in the season series this year.

Ching gave the Dynamo the lead with a header in the first half (21st minute) and Cooper answered in the second, scoring the game-tying goal during a period in which the Hoops really came to life midway through the second half.

Both players took advantage of marking mistakes in the box, but the Dynamo are sure they could have put themselves in a much more favorable position to win in the first half when they carried play.

"I thought we played well tonight, especially in the first half," Ching said. "We moved the ball around tonight and we probably should have finished off a few more opportunities. (We do that and we) wouldn't be sitting here frustrated and (ticked) off."

Kinnear echoed that sentiment.

"We had more than enough chances in the first 45 minutes of the game to possibly put the game out of reach," Kinnear said. "We created good situations and good chances. But we got a tie out of it and I think the guys are really disappointed as we should be."

Frustrated has been the word thrown around more than any other for the Dynamo who, despite having a league-high seven ties, are still tied for second place in the Western Conference.

But those frustrations could be started to shake the foundation on which the Dynamo have built back-to-back championships. After the ball settled into the back of the net for the tying goal, goalkeeper Pat Onstad could be seen screaming in the direction of his defenders while the Hoops celebrated.

Onstad wouldn't reveal what he said after the goal, instead taking a more diplomatic approach about the situation.

"I just kind of let it all out right there," said Onstad. "We know this year we have given up goals when we have been outplaying teams, and then all it takes is one pass and it's 1-1.

"I thought tonight, we were fantastic defensively until that one point and then we all just completely fell apart."

Ching, too, was critical of himself and his teammates for failing at critical times in winnable games that become ties.

"You look at our team and what has made us successful the past couple of years. It's defense," Ching said. "We have been one of the best defensive, if not the best, defensive team in the league.

"But now we've got guys letting in mistakes," he continued. "They are making big mistakes and costing us games. It's the same guys costing us 3-4 games, so it's disappointing.

"But I need to blame myself too. I did not have a great game tonight."

While the defense got the lion's share of the criticism Thursday, the team did only manage another one-goal game. The Dynamo have failed to score more than one goal in nine of their 15 league matches, winning just one of them (May 31 vs. New York).

That kind of production puts more than just a little bit of blame on the offense as Kinnear pointed out in his post-game comments.

"With the chances we had and keep having, we need to score goals," Kinnear said. "And we didn't. And that is why we could win. I thought we were pretty were pretty good defensively, but sometimes you need more than one goal to win and we did not get them."