It’s official. The Houston Dynamo are out of playoff contention.
Despite Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rapids loss, interim head coach Wade Barrett is proud of this team’s fight.
Colorado put the last nail in Houston’s coffin. For the third straight year, the Dynamo offseason starts earlier than expected.
Yet Houston still has three games to play, and Barrett wants nine points from them.
“I want to win on Wednesday,” Barrett said. “I’m hungry to win every single time we step on the field.”
Barrett added that with the quick turnaround for Wednesday’s game, he expects to make changes to the lineup.
Saturday’s loss was the second consecutive game that the Dynamo gave up three goals, which irks Barrett. Two of the Rapids goals on Saturday were due to Dynamo turnovers, with Barrett calling one of them, a 12th minute strike by Dominique Badji, a gift for the Rapids.
“Just disappointed with the way that we gave the goal up,” said Barrett. “But it’s collective. It’s every single one of us.”
Dynamo left back DaMarcus Beasley agreed, noting that all three Rapids goal were from open play.
“We gave them the goal, and we gave them the game,” said Beasley. “We’re at home and we came out flat again. I guess it’s like they say: 'When it rains, it pours.'”
Before the half, the Dynamo drew things even when Mauro Manotas connected on a Shannon Williams cross. Manotas would later score on a free kick, giving him six goals for the season – and the team lead.
Though Manotas’ first strike brought the Dynamo even, the second goal only cut the deficit to one.
“The game could have really gone south after that point [Rapids third goal] so I’m impressed with the fight from the group to get it back to 3-2,” Barrett said.
“We want to be competitive in every single game we play. We want to get to the last 10 minutes, to the last kick of the game with a chance to get something from every single game.”
