Despite Loss, United Advances to Semis

Dynamo 1, United 0

By Eric Barton
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, August 2, 2007; Page E09

HOUSTON, Aug. 1 -- United Coach Tom Soehn's prayers were answered Wednesday night as Club America beat Monarcas Morelia, 3-2, giving D.C. a berth in the SuperLiga semifinals. It came down to prayers after D.C. lost to the Houston Dynamo, 1-0, earlier in the night.

"Right now we are going to go back and pray for Club America," Soehn said after United's loss. "We're out [if America loses]; there's nowhere else to go. We'll just focus on our next league game."

Monarcas Morelia was in a win-or-go-home situation with an 0-1-1 record. So United, which could have clinched a berth by beating the Dynamo, got in through the back door.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game going into Houston," Soehn said. "We had plenty of opportunities, but unfortunately we didn't put any of them away. We didn't give up much, but we didn't score either."

Missed opportunities seemed to be the theme of the game for United, which had five shots on goal, compared to Houston's four.

United missed an open shot in the second half. D.C. forward Luciano Emilio found defender Bobby Boswell open in front of the goal, but he slipped and fell as he tried to make the pass, then watched Houston's keeper, Zach Wells, pick up the ball and toss it in the other direction.

The game's lone goal came in the second half. Nate Jaqua passed to fellow forward Brian Ching, who caught the defense out of position and found the left side of the goal from 20 yards.

United keeper Troy Perkins had three saves in the game, but the long shot from Ching sneaked past him just as he lost his footing.

"I just tried to get set wherever I was and I was in a bad position. We were all in a bad spot," Perkins said. "We had opportunities on the other end; unfortunately we didn't put them away so it comes back to bite you a little bit."

When the tournament concludes, Perkins said, he will look back on it fondly, but he hopes it will be at a different time next year.

"It was a great experience, but it's right in the middle of our season," Perkins said. "It's the middle of summer time for us, there's lots of injuries, and the Mexican club teams are in the middle of the season. It was our third game in seven days, so I knew it was going to be sloppy."

On the other end, Houston's Wells had five saves, including one on a free kick by Christian Gomez following a Houston foul that almost sneaked into the top left corner of the goal. Wells leaped and knocked the ball over the goal with his right hand.

United's lone bright spot came as forward Jaime Moreno returned from hamstring injuries for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks. United's captain didn't have any shots on goal, but did put in valuable time on the field.

"I'm feeling better and excited to play," he said. "It was a roller coaster tonight. We tried to sort it out, but we couldn't put it together. . . . Hopefully we can go back and figure things out so we don't make the same mistakes again."

The teams came into Wednesday's match tied for first place with Group B SuperLiga records of 1-0-1 and four points each.

Heading into the game, the Dynamo was reeling from a 1-1 draw with Monarcas Morelia in a game that could have guaranteed Houston a spot in the semifinals, while United was playing off the momentum of the 1-0 victory over Club America.

United will face the Los Angeles Galaxy and possibly David Beckham, who is injured, on Aug. 15 thanks in part to a 6-5 L.A. win over FC Dallas on Tuesday night that secured first place in the Group A bracket.

Pachuca of Mexico also earned a berth in the semifinals on Tuesday by topping Chivas of Guadalajara, 1-0.

Houston will host Pachuca on Aug. 14 at Roberson Stadium. The final is Aug. 29 at a site to be determined.