Summary
Houston avenged its two previous Open Cup defeats with a 4-0 demolition of the Battery on two headers from Geoff Cameron and goals from Bobby Boswell and Dominic Oduro. John Michael Hayden tallied two assists, while Tally Hall earned his second straight shutout.
Notes
The Houston Dynamo advanced to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time since 2006 with a dominating 4-0 win over USL1 leader Charleston Battery Tuesday night at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Dynamo advance to the semifinals, to be played July 21 or July 22 against the Seattle Sounders or Kansas City Wizards, respectively.
Geoff Cameron led the Dynamo attack on the night, scoring two goals from headers while playing attacking midfield, his first two goals of the season.
Midfielder John Michael Hayden assisted on the first two Dynamo goals, the first two assists of his professional career. In the 16th minute, shortly after rain began pelting Blackbaud Stadium, Hayden found Cameron on a corner kick, and his header gave Houston the lead. In the 47th minute, Hayden took a free kick from the left wing quickly, catching Charleston off guard and playing the ball to the back post, where Bobby Boswell deflected it in for his second goal of the season and first since February 24.
Dominic Oduro scored for the second consecutive Open Cup match when he essentially sealed the match in the 52nd minute, dribbling into the box and firing a right-footed shot inside the left post to give Houston a 3-0 lead.
Cameron added to the rout in the 73rd minute, connecting on a Brian Mullan cross and glancing a header just inside the right post for the first multi-goal game of his career.
Goalkeeper Tally Hall made two saves for the shutout, his second straight in Open Cup competition and the Dynamo’s third consecutive shutout in all competitions.
Houston is now 3-1 on its current stretch of seven consecutive road games, which consist of four MLS games and three Open Cup games.
Houston was without forwards Brian Ching (U.S. national team) and Cam Weaver (groin strain), midfielders Stuart Holden (U.S. national team) and Ricardo Clark (personal), and defenders Andrew Hainault (Canadian national team), Eddie Robinson (disabled list), and Wade Barrett (gastrocnemius strain).
Houston Dynamo
vs. Charleston Battery
July 07, 2009 -- Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston SC
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup -- Quarterfinals
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Geoff Cameron 1 (John Michael Hayden 1) 16
HOU -- Bobby Boswell 1 (John Michael Hayden 2) 47
HOU -- Dominic Oduro 2 (unassisted) 52
HOU -- Geoff Cameron 2 (Brian Mullan 1) 73
Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Mike Chabala, Bobby Boswell, Julius James, Danny Cruz (Brad Davis 81), John Michael Hayden, Erik Ustruck, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe (Brian Mullan 46), Ade Akinbiyi, Dominic Oduro (Kei Kamara 62).
Substitutes Not Used: Pat Onstad, Wade Barrett, Richard Mulrooney, Craig Waibel
Charleston Battery -- Dusty Hudock, Frankie Sanfilippo, Matt Bobo (Dan Antoniuk 59), Nelson Akwari, John Wilson, Chris Williams (Tyoshi Yoshitake 59), Kenji Treschuk, Tyler Hemming (Stephen Armstrong 64), Scott Buete, Darren Spicer, Randi Patterson.
Substitutes Not Used: Keith Wiggans, Pat Tate, Obrian Woodbine
Misconduct Summary:
CHR -- Scott Buete (caution; Reckless Tackle) 15
HOU -- Erik Ustruck (caution; Reckless Tackle) 54
CHR -- Tenji Treschuk (caution; Dissent) 82
CHR -- Tyoshi Yoshitake (caution; Reckless Tackle) 90
gameSumLabel">Referee: Tony Russo
gameSumLabel">Referee's Assistants: Eric Proctor; Jeremy Brooks
gameSumLabel">4th official: Wayne Pavlischek
gameSumLabel">Attendance: 2,473
Weather: Rainy-and-90 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
