The Dynamo return to league action on Saturday after their match against LAFC scheduled for April 29 was moved to June. Houston’s last competitive match was a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship on April 26 to advance to the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Homegrown midfielder Brooklyn Raines scored the lone goal of the match, his first goal with the first team. Goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell earned a clean sheet in his Dynamo debut and that was the fifth shutout for the backline this year in all competitions. Defender Chase Gaspar made his Dynamo debut after joining the team earlier in the month off the waiver wire.
Offensively, forward Sebas Ferreira sparked the game-winning goal on a long ball to forward Corey Baird just outside the box. Baird played the ball back to an oncoming Raines for the deciding goal of the game. Raines spent the bulk of 2022 with Houston Dynamo 2 and finished with one goal and three assists in 17 appearances.
Houston and Salt Lake played to a scoreless draw on Opening Day in 2022 in the Bayou City. Salt Lake earned three points in the return fixture in Utah and enter the match with a slight edge in the all-time series with a 13-12-10 (WLD) mark. The Dynamo hold a 10-3-4 mark at home against Real Salt Lake and are unbeaten in their last three games at home versus Salt Lake.
Salt Lake visit Shell Energy Stadium after a scoreless draw with Seattle Sounders FC on April 29. That point gave Salt Lake a slight edge over Austin FC in the Western Conference standings. The team currently sits in 10th place with 10 points, just three points shy of the Dynamo, who enter the game in sixth place. Forward Jefferson Savarino currently leads the team with six goal contributions (three goals and three assists). Savarino was also key in the match against Seattle by generating three chances, the most of any player on the field that evening.
The Dynamo host Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, May 10 in the Round of 32 of the U.S. Open Cup. Houston closes a three-game stretch at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday, May 13 against the reigning Concacaf Champions League winners, Seattle Sounders FC. Overall, the Dynamo will navigate a seven-match slate in May with six league games and at a minimum one Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match. An additional Open Cup match can be added to the schedule for the end of May pending the result of the Round of 32 match against Kansas City.
