Draws in Carson

Dynamo returns with two draws from its road trip to The Toolbox in Carson, a suburb of Los Angeles.

The scoreless draw versus the hapless Galaxians hurts the most, given that the Lost Angels are the archetypal villains of the league. (I've forged this opinion for various reasons, but the latest being Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy President, praising diving and divers as a part of the game and that he has a "perverted sense of respect for the players that can pull it off.") The good news was that we got a clean sheet for Onstad with the 0-0 draw. More good news was that Ching returned (a surprise to me) and had two great opportunities, one header causing Hartman to make a dramatic save on the line. Ching was a bit rusty in the passing combinations with his teammates in the middle of the field, but did well in the attacking third all in all. Things will only get better now.

Whereas the game with the Lost Angeles saw a strong first half for Dynamo and a stalemate in the second, I thought the Dynamo controlled all but brief patches of the Wednesday game versus Chivas USA. Barrett and Ching (who forced another save from the line) were unlucky to not net one, but De Rosario showed his ubiquitous skill, slipping around a sliding Jessee Marsch and driving a shot from just outside the box. Dynamo should have sealed this match with either another goal or dominating defense, but unfortunately at the 75 minute mark Onstad gave up a rebound after a great save, and Marsch was there to pick up the trash and knock in the equalizer.

Dynamo has proven to be a dominator in the midfield, but they seem inconsistent in front of the goal (although they do generate numerous opportunities) which means they need to be all the more solid on defense to protect their small leads. Unfortunately, few defenses are without occasional lapses, and Dynamo is no exception. These lapses (such as the one that led to the Chivas USA goal), as rare as they are, are costing us points and will continue to do so until we can get more results out of our attack...which should happen now that Ching is back.

Exciting sub-story from the Saturday game: there was a section of several hundred blue-wearing Quakes fans supporting the Dynamo at The Toolbox. Most MLS teams would kill to have that sort of traveling support, and the support came from a town -- San Jose -- other than the team's hometown. Tip o' the hat to those dedicated Quakes fans. I hope you get a home team of your own soon; but I'm glad you're rooting for the Dynamo in the meantime.