Champion Dynamo returns to final
HOUSTON - Bring on the rematch.
Nate Jaqua and Dwayne De Rosario scored goals and the Houston Dynamo advanced to its second consecutive MLS Cup final with a 2-0 win over Kansas City in the Major League Soccer Western Conference final on Saturday night.
The Dynamo will face the New England Revolution next Sunday. Houston defeated the Revolution in last year’s title match. New England reached its third consecutive MLS Cup final with a 1-0 win over Chicago on Thursday.
Houston dominated at both ends, outshooting Kansas City 11-3. Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad didn’t have to make a save.
“Our reaction, our responsibility to defend, was almost automatic,” Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. “You can’t ask for anything better than that.”
The Dynamo created good scoring chances from the start and took a 1-0 lead on a corner kick in the 35th minute. Midfielder Richard Mulrooney hooked his high kick in toward the goal and the 6-foot-3 Jaqua outleaped Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to head it into the top left corner of the net. It was the first goal allowed by the Wizards in four games, a span of 371 minutes.
“Our set pieces were very dangerous,” Kinnear said.
As Houston continued to dominate, the Wizards got frustrated, getting two yellow cards in a three-minute span.
The Dynamo kept applying the pressure. De Rosario put the match away in the 81st minute when he took a long pass from defender Craig Waibel, outran a defender and beat Hartman with a low, left-footed drive.
Waibel played college soccer at Washington and was drafted by the Seattle Sounders in 1999.
The match drew 30,972 fans, a Dynamo record in its two seasons in Houston.
Houston and New England played to a 1-1 tie in last year’s MLS Cup. The Dynamo won 4-3 on penalty kicks.