Of Hat Tricks and Bicycles

What an awesome way to begin a franchise. Dynamo over the Rapids, 5-2.

With more than 25,000 fans in attendance, Dynamo put on a fantastic show. Winning is nice; winning with exciting ball is even better. The crowds will surely dwindle a little once the novelty of the enterprise wears off, but I for one am hoping that the quality of play will keep the numbers up at a respectable level.

My son, who is 12 now, was a big fan of San Jose Earthquakes. They were his favorite professional soccer team, in the MLS or anywhere else in the world. He was drawn to them by his admiration of Landon Donovan. When Donovan left for L.A. ("ptooey"), my son's allegiance remained with the Earthquakes, as he had them dominate the soccer world on his GameCube. I feel for the soccer fans in San Jose and hope Dynamo is a success here as much for San Jose as for Houston.

I hope Sunday is a harbinger of good things to come.

There was obviously Ching's prolific scoring. A hat trick by halftime, and four by the end of the game. Not to be outdone, Alejandro Moreno scored with an impressive bicycle kick in stoppage time off a deflected cross from De Rosario. How's THAT for crowd pleasin' entertainment? And we can't forget De Rosario and his four assists -- a feat that's rarer than scoring four goals in a game, if you can believe it.

We can't lose sight of the other tactical battles that help put this game in the books.

Pat Onstad had to make two big saves in the second half to keep the ball out of the net, in addition to his run-of-the-mill shot blockers and game savers.

Wade Barrett (a defender playing midfielder Sunday) and Brian Mullan dominated the flanks and got excellent crosses into the middle. You can't get better service at a 4-star restaurant.

Kevin Goldthwaite and Adrian Serioux did very well in the back, staying organized and restarting the attack. Serioux did have the foul that led to the Kirovski strike, and was tentative at another point so as to force Onstad to make an aggressive save, but was strong on the ball for the much of the game.

Kelly Gray also joined in on the attack from the defense. This team-wide attacking mentality should be the style that American soccer adopts nationwide and claims as its own.

Charlie Pallilo and John Doyle, the local announcers on FSN, did a remarkably good job. I've watched mostly national broadcasts of games, where there is a veneer of impartiality by the game callers; it was nice to view a game where the announcers were pulling for the home team. I'ver heard Pallilo on the radio many times. I don't know if he has any background in soccer (I would guess not), but he did admirably calling the game, naming the players in the course of play, and even using the proper vernacular. He wasn't entirely crisp with some of the nuances, but was more than up to the task. Doyle was a player, coach, and announcer for San Jose, and did a great job with the color commentary...and with practice he'll remember to refer to the team as "Houston" and not "San Jose"! Overall, I was impressed -- and they didn't prattle endlessly like the ABC/ESPN soccer crew tends to do. I like my announcers to be subtle.

Finally, I must note that Colorado's two goals were both well done. Beckerman's rocket from 35 yards out is definite goal of the week material. Does he ever score goals? If he scored more like that one, he'd be worth a lot more on my fantasy team. Kirovski's goal off a set play was not quite as stunning, but was well placed with just the right amount of deception.

Colorado is trying to work out some issues at the outset of this season, and the early injuries that required two first-half substitutes, plus the late Red Card to Mastroeni, only exacerbated their plight Sunday. I think next week's Kansas City match will be a more challenging task.

Line up
GK = Pat Onstad
D = Kelly Gray, Ryan Cochrane, Adrian Serioux, Kevin Goldthwaite
M = Wade Barrett, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Mullan
F = Brian Ching, Alejandro Moreno

No subs used. Bench included: Ronald Cerritos, Brad Davis, Patrick Ianni, Eddie Robinson, Marcus Storey, Craig Waibel, Zach Wells