Futile streaks both collective and individual were put to the sword in Friday night’s wild 4-2 win for the Houston Dynamo over the New York Red Bulls at BBVA Compass Stadium.
The victory was Houston’s first over the Red Bulls in the MLS regular season since August 3, 2012, and ended a run of seven league games without success against the side they ousted from the postseason in 2013.
Will Bruin played a major role, delivering a bustling performance and scoring twice to claim his first goals against New York in his fourteenth appearance against them.
It’s a surprising statistic for a player who has been a reliable source of goals since arriving in MLS in 2011, but it’s no shock at the moment when Bruin hits the net. While much of the striker talk in Houston has centered around the outstanding form of Giles Barnes and the future arrival of Erick "Cubo" Torres, Bruin has quietly put together the most prolific purple patch in his career.
A deflected shot and a cool one-on-one finish deep into stoppage time took his tally to seven for the season, six of them coming in his past five matches. Not that the 25-year-old is getting over-excited.
“I’m not going to pat myself on the back. It’s my job to score goals,” he told reporters after the match. “It’s a game of inches, but one thing I’ve learned throughout my career so far is you’ve got to stay on an even keel. You can’t get too happy when things are going good because then on the other side you’ll be too down on yourself when things are going bad.”
Bruin was in the XI for the opening-day win over Columbus Crew SC then made only one start in the next six matches. He said he reacted to that disappointment by upping his effort levels and now looks well-placed to make 2015 his fourth campaign in a row with at least ten goals.
“You can tell in his play he’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s playing to every strength that he’s got right now and everyone knows what he’s capable of. I think coming out of the team gave him a chance to reassess himself and work a little bit harder on stuff and he’s reaping the rewards,” said Barnes.
“He’s a fantastic person, I love playing right behind him. You can ask anyone on the team, he works so hard for us and for me he’s just getting his rewards and we’ve always known that he’s one of the best strikers in the league. His goalscoring record speaks for itself.”
