It seems that each game the Houston Dynamo play, they are re-writing the record books. With Sunday's 1-0 win against the LA Galaxy, Dominic Kinnear's squad continued their best start in franchise history with 17 points through their first nine games. The previous best nine-game start for the Dynamo was 2009, when the team went 4-2-3 (15 points) through nine matches. To continue this historic pace, Houston will have to win or tie Wednesday night againt D.C. United. In 2009, the Dynamo won their 10th game of the season to give them 18 points through 10 matches.
One of the most controversial plays in Sunday's match also turned out to be one of the most surprising. In three of the previous five Dynamo / Galaxy matches at the Home Depot Center, the home side has earned a penalty kick. So it's no surprise that when Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall took down Jose Villarreal in the 25th minute, referee Allen Chapman pointed to the penalty spot. What was surprising, however, was that for the first time in his MLS career, Hall stopped Donovan on the PK attempt. Previously, Hall was 0-10 on penalty kicks, with his only stop in all competitions coming against Santos Laguna in the second leg of this year's CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear continues to climb the all-time MLS wins chart. Kinnear won his 119th regular season game on Sunday and sits fourth on the all-time chart. Although Sigi Schmid (173) and Bruce Arena (148) are out of reach in 2013, Kinnear has a chance to pass Bob Bradley (124) this season and move into third on the all-time wins chart. Kinnear is also second all-time in winning percentage among active coaches with at least 30 games under their belt. His .570 winning percentage is behind only Bruce Arena, who has a .606 regular season winning percentage in his career.
Other Dynamo milestones from Sunday, courtesy of Dynamo communications manager Matt Pedersen:
Sunday's match was the 117th regular season appearance in orange for midfielder Ricardo Clark. The U.S. men's national team veteran passed Geoff Cameron for seventh on the all-time appearance list.
Goalkeeper Tally Hall continues to move up the start chart for the Dynamo. Sunday's match was his 81st regular season start, moving the 27-year-old goalkeeper into 12th on the all-time list.
