Houston Dynamo 2travels to the West Coast for the first time this weekend as it continues its two-game road trip against Tacoma Defiance on Sunday, May 1, at 5:00 p.m. CT from the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington.
Dynamo 2 maintained their first place status with a 3-2 victory over in-state rivals North Texas SC last weekend at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game was the team’s second in a row at an MLS Stadium, as Houston had made its debut at PNC Stadium the week before against Timbers 2. Through the first five games of the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season, Dynamo 2 has won every match and has earned the maximum 15 points through this point in the season.
However, Dynamo 2 found themselves in unfamiliar territory against North Texas SC, as the team found itself trailing for the first time all season long. The Dynamo gave up the first goal of the game to Andre Costa in the 17th minute. Eager to get the team back on track, Dynamo 2 wasted little time in bringing the game level, as midfielder Diego Gonzalez lined up for a free kick from about 30 yards out from goal and curled the ball around the wall and found the near corner of the goal to tie the game at one goal apiece in the 21st minute.
Dynamo 2 was determined to go into the locker room at halftime with a lead, and in the third minute of added time in the first half, defender and team captain Talen Maples recorded his first goal of the season off an assist from forward Roberto Avila. This goal was particularly sweet for Maples because the South Methodist University graduate thought that he had scored the previous weekend, only to have his goal called off for being offside.
North Texas proved a formidable opponent, as the team was in second place in the league prior to the match, just one point behind Dynamo 2. They showed why they deserved that standing as they came back to tie the game in the 54th minute.
Houston was in danger of being forced into its first shootout from the penalty spot, a result which occurs if the two teams are tied at the end of regulation. However, Avila, who made his first team debut earlier in the week against Rio Grande Valley FC in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, scored a diving header in the 84th minute off an assist from defender Mujeeb Murana to give the Dynamo a 3-2 lead, which would prove to be the game’s final score.
