The Houston Dynamo U-17s defeated D.C. United 1-0 Tuesday evening to put themselves in a four-way tie atop Group A in the Generation adidas U-17 Cup at Pizza Hut Park.
After falling to San Jose in their opener Monday night, the Dynamo needed a win against D.C. to keep any hope alive of advancing out of the group. After an uneventful first half, the action picked up in the 60th minute after Dynamo forward Giovanni Najar got in one-on-one with D.C. goalkeeper Alec Dockser. Dockser pulled down Najar in the penalty box and was issued a red card by the official. Dockser's replacement, Cody Niedermeier, saved Dynamo midfielder Jorge Andrade's ensuing penalty kick. Niedermeier - Man of the Match after dominating the penalty shootout in the 2010 U-17 Cup final - also blocked Andrade's rebound attempt to keep D.C. in the match.
With a man advantage, the Dynamo continued to press and finally broke through in the 67th minute when midfielder Carlos Ibarra picked up a ball behind the D.C. defense, held off the oncoming centerback, and slotted the ball past Niedermeier. Dynamo goalkeeper Fernando Piñahad little trouble with the D.C. attack, stopping two shots and watching a few others sail over the net.
In other Group A action, the Columbus Crew defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0. The Dynamo and Columbus will square off Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. in their final match of the group stage. D.C. United and San Jose will play their final group stage match at the same time. If two teams finish tie atop the group, the first three tie-breakers are as follows: goal differential, most goals scored, and head-to-head results. D.C. leads the group with a +1 goal differential, followed by Houston and San Jose with a 0 goal differential, and Columbus with a -1 goal differential.
U-15s fall to LA Galaxy 2-1
In their first competitive game as members of the Houston Dynamo, the Dynamo U-15s lost to the LA Galaxy 2-1 Wednesday morning. Denzel Ward scored the lone goal for Houston. The Dynamo will face the New York Red Bulls Thursday morning in their second match of the tournament before closing the group stage Saturday morning against the Seattle Sounders.
