Houston got its first win of 2011 on Sunday night, beating the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in a physical match at Robertson Stadium.
Bobby Boswell scored the go-ahead goal in the 42nd minute, four minutes after the Whitecaps had erased a 1-0 Dynamo lead. Boswell – who also assisted on the first goal of the night - scored off a deft feed from Danny Cruz. The defender got free after cutting across the Vancouver backline and beat goalkeeper Jay Nolly to give the Dynamo a 2-1 advantage going into the locker room.
The goal capped an intense five-minute spell that saw three goals scored. Houston got on the board first when Cam Weaver pounced on a Brad Davis corner kick that Boswell had flicked on in the 37th minute. It was Weaver’s second goal in as many games.
Whitecaps playmaker Davide Chiumiento put on a good individual effort a minute later, slipping a ball through to Camilo after spinning away from the Dynamo defense. The Brazilian striker put a point blank shot over Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall’s right shoulder to make it 1-1, setting up Boswell’s heroics.
In a physical second half, the Dynamo managed 10 second-half shots to Vancouver’s one, and outshot Vancouver 19-5 on the night. The Caps were without much of their first-choice lineup, as striker Eric Hassli and midfielder Gershon Koffie were serving red-card suspensions, Terry Dunfield was shelved with an injury, and captain Jay DeMerit came off at half time with an injury of his own.
Rookie Will Bruin got one of the few good second-half chances and capped the scoring in the 76th minute. Nolly came off his line to try to get to a through ball from Brad Davis, but Bruin was quicker. He skipped around the Vancouver goalkeeper and left-footed the ball into the net to give the Dynamo the final 3-1 scoreline and claim his first career goal.
Houston improved to 1-1-2 and will host New England next Sunday, while Vancouver dropped to 1-2-2 and will host Chivas USA next Saturday.
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Vancouver Whitecaps (1-2-2) vs. Houston Dynamo (1-1-2)
April 10, 2011 -- Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Cam Weaver 2 (Bobby Boswell 1, Brad Davis 1) 37
VAN -- Camilo 3 (Davide Chiumiento 4) 38
HOU -- Bobby Boswell 1 (Danny Cruz 1, Brad Davis 2) 42
HOU -- Will Bruin 1 (Brad Davis 3) 76
Vancouver Whitecaps -- Jay Nolly, Jonathan Leathers, Michael Boxall,
Jay DeMerit (Russell Teibert 46), Blake Wagner, Davide Chiumiento, Nizar
Khalfan (Mouloud Akloul 78), Alain Rochat, Jeb Brovsky, Atiba Harris, Camilo
(Omar Salgado 83).
Substitutes Not Used: Bilal Duckett, Kevin Harmse, Wes Knight, Joe Cannon.
Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Hunter Freeman, Bobby Boswell, Andre
Hainault, Corey Ashe, Danny Cruz, Geoff Cameron, Lovel Palmer, Brad Davis
(Colin Clark 89), Cam Weaver (Jason Garey 83), Will Bruin.
Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Alex Dixon, Eddie Robinson, Kofi Sarkodie,
Tyler Deric.
Misconduct Summary:
VAN -- Jonathan Leathers (caution; Reckless Foul) 35
VAN -- Alain Rochat (caution; Reckless Tackle) 55
Referee:
Jair Marrufo
Referee's
Assistants: Corey Rockwell; Frank Anderson
4th
Official: Allen Chapman
Attendance: 12,047
Weather: Cloudy-and-81-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
