VANCOUVER, B.C. -- The Vancouver Whitecaps remain perfect at home, claiming a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo at BC Place thanks to goals from left back Jordan Harvey and forward Kenny Miller.
Harvey scored the opener in the 14th minute, pouncing into the path of a header across goal from Andy O'Brien to tuck the ball past Tally Hall. Pedro Morales was instrumental on the goal, sending a pinpoint right-footed cross from the left onto O'Brien's head.
Miller then doubled Vancouver's lead in the 58th minute, scoring from the spot by slotting the ball into the bottom right corner. The Scottish Designated Player had to take the penalty twice though, scoring both times – after referee Kevin Stott blew down Miller's initial spot kick due to encroachment by a number of Whitecaps players.
Darren Mattocks generated that penalty, juking around Kofi Sarkodie, who handled the ball in the box after a failed attempt to tackle the Jamaican.
Ricardo Clark narrowed the lead by scoring for the Dynamo in the 75th minute, heading home a Brad Davis free kick. David Ousted tried to stretch across to his left to make the save, but the connection from Clark found the bottom right corner.
Vancouver's first clear opportunity in the match came in the 12th minute, as Miller sent a left-footed cross right across goal into the path of the rushing Mattocks. The Jamaican made contact but couldn't hit the target, his shot flying over Hall's crossbar.
The Dynamo came close to finding an equalizer to Vancouver's early opener in the 16th minute, as Giles Barnes narrowly headed wide of target, getting on the end of a cross from the right from Sarkodie.
Houston again narrowly missed out after Davis hit a shot across goal from the left at an acute angle that Ousted tipped onto the crossbar. Barnes set Davis up for the 49th minute opportunity with a clever backheel in the area.
Miller nearly added a second in the 93rd minute, but his curling right footed effort went just wide to the right of target.
With the win, the Whitecaps move to 2-0-2, ahead of next Saturday's home match at BC Place against the Colorado Rapids. As for the Dynamo, they drop to 2-1-0, with their next outing a home match against FC Dallas on Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2-0-2; 8 points) vs. Houston Dynamo (2-1-0; 6 points)
MLS regular season
March 29, 2014 – BC Place, Vancouver, BC
Attendance: 21,000 (sellout)
Scoring Summary:
Vancouver: Jordan Harvey 1 (Andy O’Brien 1, Pedro Morales 2) 14
Vancouver: Kenny Miller 3 (penalty kick) 58
Houston: Ricardo Clark 1 (Brad Davis 1) 75
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall; Kofi Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor (Brian Ownby 77), David Horst, Corey Ashe; Andrew Driver (Mark Sherrod 86), Ricardo Clark, Boniek Garcia (Omar Cummings 71), Brad Davis; Will Bruin, Giles Barnes
Unused substitutes: Tyler Deric, A.J. Cochran, Servando Carrasco, Warren Creavalle
Vancouver Whitecaps FC: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Andy O’Brien, Jay DeMerit, Jordan Harvey; Gershon Koffie (Kekuta Manneh 76), Matias Laba, Russell Teibert, Pedro Morales (Nicolas Mezquida 87); Darren Mattocks (Sebastian Fernandez 65), Kenny Miller
Unused substitutes: Paolo Tornaghi, Johnny Leveron, Bryce Alderson, Erik Hurtado
Misconduct Summary:
None.
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistant Referees: Adam Wienckowski, Felisha Mariscal
Fourth Official: Younes Marrakchi
