Houston has plenty of guys worth protecting here. (Getty Images)

Today we move another day closer to the 2009 expansion draft. Now we turn our focus to the Houston Dynamo.

The Dynamo are a tough team to figure out due to the number of quality players that are both young and old.

Protected Available Exempt Corey Ashe Wade Barrett Danny Cruz Bobby Boswell Mike Chabala Geoff Cameron Ryan Cochrane Brian Ching Tyler Deric Ricardo Clark Tally Hall Brad Davis John Michael Hayden Andrew Hainault Richard Mulrooney Stuart Holden Dominic Oduro Luis Angel Landin Pat Onstad Brian Mullan Abe Thompson Eddie Robinson Erik Ustruck Craig Waibel Cam Weaver

Either way they stand to lose a good player this year.

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The Western Conference Finals was a long, hard slog between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo.� With an 8:30 starting time to accommodate ESPN2's college football schedule, two blackouts that interrupted play in each half, and a half hour of overtime, the Galaxy did not trudge off the pitch with their Western Conference trophy until almost midnight.

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This match promises to be a dogfight. The season series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo featured exactly one goal and a lot of physical defending. If that sounds a lot like what Chivas and the Galaxy went through for the bulk of their five games this season, its not coincidence.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo have combined for four MLS Cup titles this decade, and one of them will move a step closer to trying to claim Team of the Decade honors when they meet in Friday's Western Conference Final (11pm, ESPN2).

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo have combined for four MLS Cup titles this decade, and one of them will move a step closer to trying to claim Team of the Decade honors when they meet in Friday's Western Conference Final (11pm, ESPN2).

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Pat Onstad deserves a medal. Keeping two own goals out. The second one was a sequence of goal line saves in the 42nd minute as Freddie Ljungberg's free kick was helped along by Ricardo Clark with Onstad backpedaling to parry it out before it crossed the goal line and then falling down to bat the ball away from Fredy Montero's opportunistic foot.

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The regular season is over and the playoffs are the order of the day in Major League Soccer. Surprise qualifiers Real Salt Lake made themselves known in the first leg of their tie with Supporters Shield winners Columbus Crew, while all four conference semi-finals were even matches with little to separate the sides. Click to continue reading...

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Fredy Montero hopes for better success in front of goal in Houston

The Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo played a highly contentious match on Thursday evening to a 0-0 draw. A capacity crowd of 35,807 at Quest field in Seattle saw a match that contained 6 yellow cards (3 for each side) and countless missed opportunities on both sides.

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Pulsating atmosphere. A sea of green with a few flecks of orange. Deflected passes. Lots of opportunities. Awful finishing. Pat Onstad's momentary lapse of reason. Nate Jacqua bloodied and bandaged carrying on like a gladiator. Lots of fouls and yellow cards.

These were some of the more visceral images of the Seattle vs Houston match which ended in a fascinating draw but not before they proved that the shortest distance between two points is a not a straight line.

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Yes Kansas City played better yesterday than their last game against Colorado; yes they could have won to keep the slim playoff hopes alive. But NO we didn't win; no we didn't finish off a team that played almost 70 minutes a man down and missing one of their best players; no, we aren't that much better with Peter Vermes than we were with Curt Onalfo; and no Peter Vermes should NOT survive the house cleaning that should take place in KC this offseason.

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It's getting close to just saying "let's prepare for 2010". After today's result down in Houston, the Wizards playoff hopes get even more faint. Up a man for over 70 minutes, the Wizards had to fight back from a goal down to salvage a draw against the Houston Dynamo this afternoon.
KC came out and tried to push the game from the start getting into Houston's end multiple times early on. Click to continue reading...

The Houston Dynamo no longer control their own destiny in the CONCACAF Champions League after losing 1-0 to Mexico's Pachuca Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium. A Brian Mullan shot off the post was as close as the home side came to breaking through against their Mexican opponents. Houston must now win on the road in their final group stage match--something the team has never done in 10 attempts in CCL play. Click to continue reading...

The CONCACAF Champions League continued on Wednesday with three more group stage matches. The Columbus Crew visited faced Saprissa, Pachuca hosted the Houston Dynamo, and Pumas traveled to W Connection. It's about halfway through the group stage with the Columbus Crew the only MLS team in position to advance to the quarterfinals.

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Found this piece of information over at the very excellent site Du Nord. If you haven't checked out Du Nord, what the heck are you waiting for?
When I was flying home from Mexico City last Saturday we stopped off in Houston, and had to go through customs there. As we approached the main terminal there was a huge "Welcome To Houston Texas" sign. Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
When I was flying home from Mexico City last Saturday we stopped off in Houston, and had to go through customs there. As we approached the main terminal there was a huge "Welcome To Houston Texas" sign. It featured images of the city skyline and natural beauty. It also featured aspects of the area's culture. Click to continue reading...

Boy, it sure was nice watching what is basically an MLS First XI advance to the Gold Cup Final last night. But even nicer was watching Chingy and Goalden take over the attack in the second half, leading to Kenny Cooper's put it away goal. It is whetting my appetite for the second half of the season, I can tell you. Click to continue reading...

Today, an experiment in sociology. The effects of alcohol on atmosphere. We will study if the fabled TFC supporters will be as fired up for this game without the alcoholic stimulate. Hypothesis : forcing the subjects to watch the game will result in melancholy and indifference, including the realization that the calibre of play isn't worth singing over. Click to continue reading...

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The CONCACAF Gold Cup is front and center in the minds of many American soccer fans this week, but while the U.S. national team is playing on Saturday there will also be a handful of great MLS match-ups.

Like rivalries? Want to see the league's best face off? Then this is your weekend.

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The CONCACAF Gold Cup is front and center in the minds of many American soccer fans this week, but while the U.S. national team is playing on Saturday there will also be a handful of great MLS match-ups.

Like rivalries? Want to see the league's best face off? Then this is your weekend.

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And those words are: Pleasantly Surprised.

I watched this game twice, once in person (commenting from the stands on Jen's pre-game posting) and once on the MLSLive.tv stream and both times I was impressed at how the Galaxy ended up playing their game and made the Dynamo adjust to them. How unusual!

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Remember if you have any questions for the players or coaches, post here before halftime and I will do what I can.
Venue:
Home Depot Center, Carson, CA
Weather:
Clear and 68 degrees
Referees:
Head Ref: Michael Kennedy
Asst Ref: Corey Rockwell
Asst Ref: David Bragg
4th Official: Kevin Stott
Actual Lineups:
Houston Dynamo (8-2-4,28pts)
GK Pat Onstad
RB Mike Chabala
CB Geoff Cameron
CB Bobby Boswell
LB Richard Mulrooney
RM Brian Mullan
CM Brad Davis
CM Stuart Holden
LM Corey Ashe
RS Brian Ching
LS Kei Kamara
Subs
Los Angeles Galaxy (2-3-9, 15pts)
GK Donovan Ricketts
RB AJ DeLaGarza
CB Omar Gonzalez
CB Gregg Berhalter
LB Todd Dunivant
RM Chris Klein
CDM Stefani Miglioranzi
CAM Jovan Kirovski
LM Eddie Lewis
RS Alan Gordon
LS Edson Buddle
Subs
PRE-GAME:
-Patrick Beatty Click to continue reading...

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With SuperLiga set to kick off and four MLS teams participating, it is a slightly-reduced MLS schedule we find ourselves with this week as we reach the mid-point of the 2009 season.

Chicago, New England, Kansas City and Chivas USA are all taking part in the battle vs. Mexican club, leaving ten teams to do battle in MLS this weekend.

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With SuperLiga set to kick off and four MLS teams participating, it is a slightly-reduced MLS schedule we find ourselves with this week as we reach the mid-point of the 2009 season.

Chicago, New England, Kansas City and Chivas USA are all taking part in the battle vs. Mexican club, leaving ten teams to do battle in MLS this weekend.

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Houston Dynamo forward Cam Weaver has been selected as the MLS Daily Player of the Week for his two-goal, one-assist performance in Houston's pair of victories in Week 14. It was Weaver's first action as a member of the Dynamo, having been traded away from the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for Chris Wondolowski on Tuesday of last week. Click to continue reading...

To the international games or just home messing with the Xbox, that's where. Absences due to either call-ups or the sudden abundance of red cards are going to affect more than one game in MLS this weekend. I long for the day when MLS is mature enough of a league to suspend play due to the former, but I am told that is not where we are, so fortune will have to favor the deep benches. Click to continue reading...

Toronto FC: More Grizzle than Gisele

Houston Dynamo 3-0 Toronto FC

The old cliche goes that football is a game of two halves. Never more so than tonight at Fortress Robertson. Ever been out on a blind date with a chick who your mates all said was really attractive, only to find on meeting her that she was more grizzle than Gisele?

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I gave myself the better part of two days before committing this Galaxy-FCD postmortem to the foreverness of the internets because I wanted to get past the bitter taste of frustration lingering in my mouth after Saturday's excursion to Frisco. I wanted to see if that would change what I had to say.

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Chicago vying for another win during 3-game road trip
The Chicago Fire head to New York to take on the Red Bulls for the second game of a three-game road trip at 2 p.m. (CST) on Sunday at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Chicago (3-0-6, 15 points) is coming off a 2-0 victory at Toronto FC last week, while New York (2-5-3, 9 points) salvaged a 1-all draw against Houston, thanks to John Wolyniec's late heroics. Click to continue reading...

This one slid under the radar here at MLSR the other day.
NEW YORK -- The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee Wednesday fined New York Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas $750 and suspended him one additional game for an egregious offense and failure to leave the field in a timely and orderly manner after being issued a red card in the Red Bulls game on May 16 versus the Houston Dynamo. Click to continue reading...

The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee fined New York Red Cards Bulls midfielder Jorge "Rojo" Rojas $1,000 and suspended him one additional game for an egregious offense and failure to leave the field in a timely and orderly manner after being issued a red card on May 16 versus the Houston Dynamo.

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As a consequence of his actions this past weekend, Jorge Rojas has earned a really tough sentence. Here are the leagues details:

""The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee today fined New York Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas $750 and suspended him one additional game for an egregious offense and failure to leave the field in a timely and orderly manner after being issued a red card in the Red Bulls game on May 16 versus the Houston Dynamo.

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Most times a home team will come away extremely disappointed with a draw, but the Red Bulls can't be too upset with their 1-1 tie on Saturday night against the Houston Dynamo.

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Most times a home team will come away extremely disappointed with a draw, but the Red Bulls can't be too upset with their 1-1 tie on Saturday night against the Houston Dynamo.

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BY DYLAN BUTLER

Revenge was not a word that the New York Red Bulls players and coaches used when speaking to members of the media in advance of Wednesday's U.

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� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Photo by ISIphotos.com

BY DYLAN BUTLER

Revenge was not a word that the New York Red Bulls players and coaches used when speaking to members of the media in advance of Wednesday's U.

Click to continue reading...