TUCSON, Arizona – Rob Lovejoy, Giles Barnes and David Horst scored as the Houston Dynamo opened the 2015 preseason with a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday morning at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona.
In the preseason debut of new head coach Owen Coyle, the Dynamo met an Earthquakes team led by head coach Dominic Kinnear, who guided the Dynamo for the last nine years.
Coyle deployed a mixed lineup in each half, featuring a combination of returning players and newcomers, including midfielder Leonel Miranda and defender Raúl Rodríguez. Honduras international midfielders Boniek García and Luis Garrido were unavailable for selection, as they will face Venezuela in a friendly in San Pedro Sula on Wednesday night.
Coyle’s starting lineup included Lovejoy, a second-round selection of the Dynamo in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. The North Carolina product opened the scoring in the 13th minute, collecting a pinpoint through ball from Barnes and racing into the box alone against Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham before calmly slotting to his left for the opening goal.
The Quakes equalized 15 minutes later as Shea Salinas burst up the left flank before feeding Adam Jahn, who finished from a tight angle at the near post past Tyler Deric for the tying goal.
Houston regained the lead from a set piece in the 40th minute. From the top of the box, Will Bruin used a short lay off in front of Barnes, who bent a low shot beneath the wall for a 2-1 advantage.
Coyle made eight changes at halftime, with Barnes, Bruin and rookie Zach Steinberger the lone holdovers from the first half.
The Dynamo extended the lead eight minutes after halftime as Brad Davis curled a corner kick toward the edge of the six-yard box and David Horst rose above his marker to smash a powerful header that struck the ground before the net for a 3-1 cushion.
San Jose cut the deficit within four minutes as Jahn scored his second of he day, collecting a pass from Tommy Thompson and beating goalkeeper Joe Willis.
Memo Rodriguez, Alex López and Jason Johnson entered the game in the 58th minute, completing the day’s changes as the Dynamo used 22 players in the first game of the preseason.
The Dynamo will train in Tucson the next two days before continuing the Desert Friendlies with their second of three preseason scrimmages in Tucson on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CT, when they meet the Portland Timbers at Kino Sports Complex. The match will be streamed live at
HoustonDynamo.com
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Houston Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes
February 4, 2015 – Kino Sports Complex
Preseason Scrimmage
Scoring Summary:
HOU: Rob Lovejoy 1 (Giles Barnes 1) 13
SJ: Adam Jahn 1 (Shea Salinas 1) 28
HOU: Giles Barnes 1 (Will Bruin 1) 40
HOU: David Horst 1 (Brad Davis 1) 53
SJ: Adam Jahn 2 (Tommy Thompson 1) 57
Houston Dynamo – Tyler Deric (Joe Willis 46); Taylor Hunter* (Kofi Sarkodie 46), Raul Rodriguez (David Horst 46), Jermaine Taylor (AJ Cochran 46), Corey Ashe (DaMarcus Beasley 46); Leonel Miranda (Chandler Hoffman 46), Nathan Sturgis (Ricardo Clark 46), Zach Steinberger (Memo Rodriguez 58), Rob Lovejoy* (Brad Davis 46); Giles Barnes (Alex Lopez 58), Will Bruin (Jason Johnson 58)
San Jose Earthquakes – David Bingham (Bryan Meredith 46); Pablo Pintos (Brandon Barklage 46), Ty Harden (Victor Bernardez 46), Trialist 1 (Trialist 2 46), Shaun Francis (Marvell Wynne 46), JJ Koval (Kris Tyrpak 67), Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi (Perez Garcia 46), Adam Jahn (Chimdum Mez 67), Shea Salinas (Leandro Barrera 46), Cordell Cato (Mike Fucito 46), Innocent Emeghara (Tommy Thompson 46)
*Trialist
Discipline summary:
San Jose: Matias Perez Garcia (caution) 86
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
