Juan Tojas
FRISCO, Texas – Clarence Goodson scored an unassisted goal in the 23rd minute as FC Dallas beat Houston 1-0 in the opener of their two-game playoff series Saturday night.
The second game of the aggregate-goal Western Conference semifinal series will be Friday in Houston, where the Dynamo had two wins as part of a 3-0-1 regular-season record against FC Dallas.
Goodson, who was named the team’s defender of the year earlier in the day, knocked a shot into the left corner of the net from inside the goalie’s box.
The goal was set up by a throw-in from the right side by Toronto native Adrian Serioux. The pass from 30 yards bounced off Dynamo defender Ryan Cochrane and directly to Goodson.
Serioux, a defender on the Canadian national team, had one shot on goal in the game.
FC Dallas goalie Dario Sala made a two-handed save to stop a direct shot by Houston’s Brian Ching in the 87th minute. The ball deflected off Sala’s fingertips to Ching, who tapped it to teammate Dwayne De Rosario for a shot at an open net from 12 yards, but the Canadian national team forward pulled his shot wide right. The Toronto native had a busy evening recording six shots and committing three fouls.
Houston goalkeeper and Vancouver native Pat Onstad faced nine shots, three of which were on target, and turned aside two.
Sala finished with four saves for his first playoff shutout.
The Dynamo finished with a 15-9 advantage in total shots and had nine corner kicks to none for FC Dallas.
The bad blood between FC Dallas captain Carlos Ruiz and Houston continued as Ruiz picked up a yellow card in the 19th minute after tripping Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson.
In the teams’ last meeting Sept. 30, Houston’s Ricardo Clark kicked Ruiz in the right shoulder, while Ruiz was lying on the ground. Clark received a nine-game suspension, the longest in MLS history, and will miss the playoffs.
With files from The Canadian Press.
Source: www.tsn.ca
