Well it's just a preseason match and doesn't count for anything, but the Dynamo's 1-0 victory over the LA Galaxy does give us the ever so slightest bit of retribution after last season. Nathan Sturgis scored his second goal of the preseason as the Dynamo defense continued it's streak of clean sheets with their fifth straight shutout of the preseason.

The Dynamo continued their undefeated preseason (for what that's worse) with a 2-0 victory over the Montreal Impact. This was the first MLS competition Houston has faced this preseason and it's fitting it was against Brian Ching and Le Impact. Colin Clark and Cam Weaver both scored for the Dynamo.

It seems like just yesterday the Dynamo played for the MLS Cup in Los Angeles, in fact it was only 66 days ago, but time waits for no one and the new season must get underway. Yesterday at the team's training facilities, the Dynamo did just that, kicking off the 2012 season with the opening of pre-season camp.

The time has come to award the first ever Creamsicles!

We're beginning this annual (hopefully) tradition with nine categories for Dynamo fans to vote on. The awards and nominees are listed below and the voting link will be at the bottom of the post. You have one week to vote, so get to it!

--

Click Here to Vote for the 2011 Creamsicles

VOTING CLOSES THURSDAY, JANUARY 5th at 11:00am CT

Team MVP: Tally Hall, Brad Davis, Andre Hainault, Geoff Cameron

Forward of the Year: Brian Ching, Cam Weaver, Calen Carr, Will Bruin, Carlo Costly

Midfielder of the Year: Brad Davis, Luiz Camargo, Adam Moffat, Danny Cruz, Colin Clark

Defender of the Year: Geoff Cameron, Bobby Boswell, Andre Hainault, Corey Ashe, Hunter Freeman

Newcomer of the Year: Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo, Calen Carr, Colin Clark

Rookie of the Year: Will Bruin, Kofi Sarkodie, Alex Dixon

Moment of the Year: New Stadium Groundbreaking, Dixon's Goal vs.

Lost in all the hullabaloo surrounding the MLS Re-Entry Draft was the news that not only did midfielder Danny Cruz graduate from Generation adidas, his contract option was not picked up.

According to MLS Insider, Cruz will be out of contract at the end of the year and is generating interest from a couple European clubs.

Here is the official list of protected vs. unprotected players the Houston Dynamo released. I like who's been protected and unprotected generally, but I have a few quibbles (below).

HOUSTON, TX. (Monday, November 21, 2011) - The Houston Dynamo have announced their 11-player protected list for the 2012 Expansion Draft to take place on Wednesday, November 23 at 2 p.

LA and Houston battle in the 2011 MLS Cup this weekend. (Getty Images)

Well, here we are, the final game of the 2011 season. MLS Cup 2011 or 2011 MLS Cup...whatever way you look at it we are at the final game of the year.

I've been sitting quiet all week on this game, mostly due to the work load I've had at my day job but also because there were other items to get through here.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

LOS ANGELES -- FIFA president Sepp Blatter sent shockwaves through the soccer world with his comments about the lack of racism as a whole in soccer and to deal with on-field incidents with a mere handshake, and Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham didn't hold back when given the chance to address Blatter's remarks to assembled media on Thursday.

Houston won the Eastern Conference this year. (Getty Images)

Only two more teams to go in our look at each MLS club's potential expansion draft lists. Today I start with the Eastern Conference champions, the Houston Dynamo.

The Dynamo shocked a lot of people this season with their late fall surge in the playoffs.

(Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz)

What: Philadelphia Union v Houston Dynamo

When: 8:30pm EST

Where: Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX, USA

Why: GAME ON!

TV: ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN-Deportes

Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Messing with Texas

Despite the number of times Texas has rudely suggested we not mess with it, Thursday, November 3, 2011 needs to go down in future Union lore as the day the Union went down to Houston and messed up Houston's game plan, ultimately stealing victory on the road.

Houston Dynamo vs. Philadelphia Union October 30, 2011 -- PPL Park, Chester PA Eastern Conference semifinals -- Game 1 Attendance: 18,539

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Andre Hainault 1 (Brad Davis 1) 5
PHI -- Sebastien Le Toux 1 (Michael Farfan 1, Justin Mapp 1) 7
HOU -- Calen Carr 1 (Brian Ching 1) 30

Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe, Danny Cruz (Je-Vaughn Watson 65), Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo, Brad Davis, Brian Ching (Carlo Costly 71), Calen Carr (Will Bruin 76).

No more games in hand, no more disparity between games played at home and on the road, no more asterisks denoting games that didn't really count because the opposition was bad. With the regular season over and playoffs under way, we can finally look back on the MLS regular season and compare statistics through 34 games, where every team played every other team twice.

Among the highlights of the Dynamo Reserves' 2-0 win yesterday morning over the Kansas City Wizards Sporks are a couple of very nice finishes from Alex Dixon and Colin Clark. When thinking beyond this season, it's getting pretty clear that Dixon is a serious asset. Check out the moves he makes to create space in a dangerous area before cooly finishing the chance.

As we mentioned last week, the Portland Timbers needed draws from the rest of the MLS. Well, they got 'em. There were four draws in nine weekend matches, and two of them were of the utmost importance to the Timbers. And of course the Timbers did their part with a 1-0 away victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Chicago Fire (7-8-16) vs. Houston Dynamo (10-9-13) October 1, 2011 -- Robertson Stadium Attendance: 17,544

Scoring Summary:

HOU -- Colin Clark 4 (unassisted) 33
CHI -- Dominic Oduro 12 (Baggio Husidic 2) 43

Chicago Fire -- Sean Johnson, Michael Videira, Jalil Anibaba, Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares, Logan Pause, Daniel Paladini, Baggio Husidic (Pavel Pardo 67), Corben Bone (Marco Pappa 73), Dominic Oduro (Patrick Nyarko 51), Diego Chaves.

Houston 1 - Chicago 1 Things stay competitive in the Eastern Conference, with Houston unable to hold onto a lead at home. Colin Clark put the Dynamo up in the 33rd minute with Dominic Oduro equalizing in the 43rd. Houston finished with five shots on goal from 14 taken. Chicago put four on goal from 10 taken.

Chicago tied 1-1 with Houston in a fairly ho-hum game of soccer this afternoon. Colin Clark opened the scoring for Houston on some corner kick madness in the 33rd minute. Ten minutes later, Dominic Oduro burned Bobby Boswell on defense and got the ball past goaltender Tally Hall on a shot that required a lot of skill.

San Jose Earthquakes (6-11-11) vs. Houston Dynamo (9-9-12)
September 17, 2011 -- Robertson Stadium
Attendance: 18,129

Scoring Summary:
SJ -- Khari Stephenson 4 (Steve Beitashour 5, Joey Gjertsen 3) 40
HOU -- Brad Davis 4 (penalty kick) 47
HOU -- Will Bruin 5 (Luiz Camargo 1, Danny Cruz 3) 79

San Jose Earthquakes -- Jon Busch, Steve Beitashour, Nanna Attakora, Bobby Burling, Ramiro Corrales, Joey Gjertsen (Jacob Peterson 63), Sam Cronin (Maxwell Griffin 82), Rafael Baca, Simon Dawkins (Matt Luzunaris 83), Khari Stephenson, Chris Wondolowski.

I'm on the road today so expect plenty of reaction to this disaster tomorrow in Monday Morning Centre Back.

Houston Dynamo (8-9-11) vs. Sporting Kansas City (10-8-10)
September 10, 2011 -- Robertson Stadium
Attendance: 14,791

Scoring Summary:
KC -- Teal Bunbury 6 (Graham Zusi 5) 9
KC -- Teal Bunbury 7 (Julio Cesar 1) 73
KC -- C.

Houston Dynamo (7-7-11, 32 pts.) vs. Real Salt Lake (10-6-6, 36 pts.) Robertson Stadium - Houston, TX - 7:30pm
BROADCAST INFORMATION: KHOU 11.2 (ENG TV) La Ranchera 850 (SPN Radio) SportsTalk 790 (ENG Radio)

REFEREE: Abbey Okulaja. MLS Career: 111 games; FC/gm: 26.

Houston Dynamo (7-7-10, 31 pts.) at New England Revolution (4-11-9, 21 pts.) Gillette Stadium - Foxboro, MA - 7:00 pm
BROADCAST: KHOU 11.2 (ENG TV) FOX Sports Houston (ENG TV) KPRC 950 (ENG Radio) La Ranchera 850 (SPN Radio)

REFEREE: Michael Kennedy - MLS Career: 137 games; FC/gm: 28.

The Dynamo needed three points on Sunday night and thanks to first half goals from Brian Ching and Adam Moffat, they got just that, defeating the Portland Timbers 2-1. It wasn't a dominating performance and if not for a massive late save by Tally Hall on a point blank shot from Kenny Cooper, it could have been another instance of dropped points at home.

Quotes:

Portland Timbers Quotes

Head coach John Spencer
On the match:
"I was disappointed for 15 minutes. I think we had an opportunity to score a goal. We had a great chance by Eddie Johnson from a back pass that could have put us one-nil up. I keep telling the guys that chances win goals, and goals win games.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

1-0 looked like it would be enough against Houston. With ten minutes to play the Philadelphia Union looked as if they were on their way to another one goal, home victory. Second goal or not, they should have made it stand and for the second game in a row they are left with a draw that felt like a loss.

I'm not really going to complain about getting a point on the road against one of the better teams in the East, but it wasn't exactly fulfilling. The Houston Dynamo may of left PPL Park with a 1-1 draw thanks to a great goal from Geoff Cameron but considering how they controlled the flow of play, you can't help but feel like they should have gotten more.

After holding a 1-0 lead for nearly the entire game, the Philadelphia Union conceded a late equalizer to Geoff Cameron and the Houston Dynamo were able to leave PPL Park with a 1-1 draw. It was the Union's third straight game without a win, and they have only won one of their last six games.

Jack McInerney, inserted back into the starting lineup for the fourth time alongside Veljko Paunovic at striker, scored his first goal of the season to give the Union a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.

The Houston Dynamo beat Seattle Sounders 3-1 on Saturday night here in Houston thanks to goals from Colin Clark and Brian Ching.
Featured music by El Général, Public Enemy, and Little Dragon.
-Photo by Katy Umaña

The Houston Dynamo beat Seattle Sounders 3-1 on Saturday night here in Houston thanks to goals from Colin Clark and Brian Ching.
Featured music by El Général, Public Enemy, and Little Dragon.
-Photo by Katy Umaña

The Houston Dynamo beat Seattle Sounders 3-1 on Saturday night here in Houston thanks to goals from Colin Clark and Brian Ching.
Featured music by El Général, Public Enemy, and Little Dragon.
-Photo by Katy Umaña

The Houston Dynamo beat Seattle Sounders 3-1 on Saturday night here in Houston thanks to goals from Colin Clark and Brian Ching.
Featured music by El Général, Public Enemy, and Little Dragon.
-Photo by Katy Umaña

Just in case anyone has missed it, Danny Cruz is out 4-6 weeks with a partially torn quad muscle, an injury he sustained in training last week, and Will Bruin will not be Dancing anytime soon, as he is now scheduled to have knee surgery, according to the Chronicle.

Cruz link here and Bruin link here.

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that performance this weekend from the Dynamo. I'm not complaining of course and I've never been happier to be so wrong about a game, especially when it's beating up the Sounders. In case you missed it, and I doubt if you're reading this blog that you did, Houston took it to Seattle on Saturday, thumping the inventors of all things soccer, 3-1.

-Photo by Katy Umaña
Coming off of a rough 3-0 loss to Chivas USA in California, the Houston Dynamo were looking for redemption as they hosted the Seattle Sounders at Robertson Stadium on Saturday night, and redemption they found as captain Brian Ching led the Dynamo to a 3-1 victory.
The Dynamo picked up their first goal early in the match when Colin Clark scored in the 7th minute:
In the 23rd, Brian Ching, with assists from Geoff Cameron and Brad Davis, scored what would prove to be the game winning goal for the Houston Dynamo:
Seattle finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the first half when Fredy Montero picked up a penalty in the box, a penalty that Alvaro Fernandez converted, making the score 2-1 going into halftime:
In the 71st minute, Brian Ching picked up an insurance goal for the Houston Dynamo:
After this weekend's matches, the Houston Dynamo have 27 points on the season and sharing fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Sporting Kansas City.

-Photo by Katy Umaña
Coming off of a rough 3-0 loss to Chivas USA in California, the Houston Dynamo were looking for redemption as they hosted the Seattle Sounders at Robertson Stadium on Saturday night, and redemption they found as captain Brian Ching led the Dynamo to a 3-1 victory.
The Dynamo picked up their first goal early in the match when Colin Clark scored in the 7th minute:
In the 23rd, Brian Ching, with assists from Geoff Cameron and Brad Davis, scored what would prove to be the game winning goal for the Houston Dynamo:
Seattle finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the first half when Fredy Montero picked up a penalty in the box, a penalty that Alvaro Fernandez converted, making the score 2-1 going into halftime:
In the 71st minute, Brian Ching picked up an insurance goal for the Houston Dynamo:
After this weekend's matches, the Houston Dynamo have 27 points on the season and sharing fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Sporting Kansas City.

-Photo by Katy Umaña
Coming off of a rough 3-0 loss to Chivas USA in California, the Houston Dynamo were looking for redemption as they hosted the Seattle Sounders at Robertson Stadium on Saturday night, and redemption they found as captain Brian Ching led the Dynamo to a 3-1 victory.
The Dynamo picked up their first goal early in the match when Colin Clark scored in the 7th minute:
In the 23rd, Brian Ching, with assists from Geoff Cameron and Brad Davis, scored what would prove to be the game winning goal for the Houston Dynamo:
Seattle finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the first half when Fredy Montero picked up a penalty in the box, a penalty that Alvaro Fernandez converted, making the score 2-1 going into halftime:
In the 71st minute, Brian Ching picked up an insurance goal for the Houston Dynamo:
After this weekend's matches, the Houston Dynamo have 27 points on the season and sharing fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Sporting Kansas City.

-Photo by Katy Umaña
Coming off of a rough 3-0 loss to Chivas USA in California, the Houston Dynamo were looking for redemption as they hosted the Seattle Sounders at Robertson Stadium on Saturday night, and redemption they found as captain Brian Ching led the Dynamo to a 3-1 victory.
The Dynamo picked up their first goal early in the match when Colin Clark scored in the 7th minute:
In the 23rd, Brian Ching, with assists from Geoff Cameron and Brad Davis, scored what would prove to be the game winning goal for the Houston Dynamo:
Seattle finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the first half when Fredy Montero picked up a penalty in the box, a penalty that Alvaro Fernandez converted, making the score 2-1 going into halftime:
In the 71st minute, Brian Ching picked up an insurance goal for the Houston Dynamo:
After this weekend's matches, the Houston Dynamo have 27 points on the season and sharing fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Sporting Kansas City.

Clark 7´ (1-0 ), Ching 23´(2-0), FERNÁNDEZ 36´ p.(2-1), Ching 71´ (3-1). Hace dos semanas Los Sounders FC parecian indetenibles. Después de vencer 3-2 al Colorado Rapids la Furia Verde alcanzaba nueve juegos invictos en la MLS y aspirando a pelear en la cima de la tabla general con Los Angeles Galaxy y FC Dallas.

By CALEB SONNELAND

The Houston Dynamo ended Seattle's nine-game unbeaten run in MLS play Saturday night as the two sides slugged out a physical 3-1 Dynamo victory in Texas.

Coming off a red card suspension, Brian Ching notched a goal on either side of halftime to ensure three points for the Texas club for his second and third goal of the season.

The Houston Dynamo got just what they needed Saturday night at Robertson Stadium, three points. In front of 18,465 in the steamy heat, Houston dominated the Seattle Sounders in route to a 3-1 victory.
I doubt Dominic Kinnear could have scripted a better start. If the 5th minute of the match, Brian Ching chested the ball down in the box but couldn't control it.

Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium, the Houston Dynamo play what could be one of their most important matches of the 2011 season. After an embarrassing 3-0 demolition at the hands of Chivas USA, the Dynamo have had a week to stew on that loss and hopefully come to the realization that if they don't start getting points soon, any hopes of making the playoffs are going to sink faster than the US Government's credit rating.