The Houston Dynamo will honor the career of one of the best players in club history during next Saturday’s match against Columbus Crew SC. Longtime Dynamo defender Corey Ashe recently retired from Major League Soccer and will be recognized when the Dynamo host the Crew, the club Ashe represented during the last year of his MLS career.
Ashe will fire El Capitán, the Texas Revolutionary War-era cannon that goes to the winner of the annual Houston-FC Dallas rivalry series, prior to kickoff and will be formally honored on the field at halftime of the game.
Ashe, 30, played nine seasons with the Dynamo, winning one MLS Cup and two Eastern Conference titles in orange. A left-footed player with incredible pace, Ashe began his career as a wide midfielder before being converted to left back in 2011. He became an MLS All-Star at the position the same year, and combined with midfielder Brad Davis to produce one of the most dangerous left-sided attacking duos in MLS over that time span.
A second-round pick (26th overall) by the Dynamo in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, Ashe won the league title as a rookie, playing in 22 games with six starts during the regular season. He earned increasing playing time over the next three years, starting eight games in 2008, 13 in 2009, 19 in 2010 and 30 in 2011. He was named to the 2011 MLS All-Star team and played against Manchester United in the annual midseason exhibition.
Later that year, Ashe helped lead the Dynamo to their third MLS Cup final in six years, starting all four playoff games en route to the final. In 2012, Ashe started 30 of 32 regular season games and all six playoff contests as the Dynamo returned to MLS Cup for the second consecutive season.
The Virginia Beach, Virginia native ranks third in Dynamo history with 211 career regular season games played, and he ranks fourth in club history with 155 starts and 14,264 minutes played. Those figures rank first, second and second among all defenders in Dynamo history. His 17 career playoff games are tied for the fourth-most in club history and his 1,389 career playoff minutes are fifth-most.
The timing of Ashe’s honoring is fitting, as he played the final season of his career with Columbus Crew SC, playing in 18 games last year as a reserve. Ashe left the Dynamo via a trade to Orlando City midway through the 2015 season and played nine games there before signing with Columbus prior to the 2016 campaign.
The Dynamo open the 2017 season, presented by 76, on Saturday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. CST against the defending MLS Cup Champion Seattle Sounders FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. Opening Day is presented by Pepsi Zero Sugar.
Tickets for all regular season games start at $25 and are on sale now at HoustonDynamo.com, by phone at 713-276-GOAL and at the BBVA Compass Stadium box office. Season tickets for the entire 2017 home campaign are also available online at HoustonDynamo.com/2017 or by phone at 713-276-GOAL.
