Fox in the Box: Dash, Toros settle with disappointing draws. Dynamo lose second match of the season

Andres Naranjo
Apr 2, 2018
4 min read

The Houston Dash hosted the Utah Royals FC, formerly know as FC Kansas City before moving to Sandy, Utah and establishing there this past year. Houston were looking to make up for the previous week's draw in stoppage time in order to start the season on the right foot while Utah were coming off a draw in their inaugural match on the road against the Orlando Pride.

Vera Pauw resorted with the same Starting XI from last week, but with a twist. Rachel Daly and Kristie Mewis swapped positions at full back and playmaker Linda Motlhalo was assigned as a defensive midfielder while Meleana Shim was sent forward to play a more attack-minded role.

The match was not one-sided from the start considering that both teams were exchanging chances for most of the majority of the match, the Dash were bound to score from multiple opportunities on the break but were unable to secure a clear chance at goal. The Royals also had their deadly opportunities but were denied in the process by Jane Campbell who would have a pretty good night by making five saves and notching the season's first clean sheet.

Despite the efforts by Houston, the match would end in a scoreless draw. It felt like the urgency for the Dash to force a goal and earn the three points was not there, and the creativity that highlighted the team's improvement in the previous week was non-existent in this match.

The Dash would record seven shots, zero shots on target, and 13 crosses while holding a 34.2% possession rate. They are going to need to go back and re-think their offensive approach as seen on March 25.

Houston will not see action on the field for the next two weeks as part of the FIFA International Break. They will be back to play on Wednesday, April 18 when they visit the Chicago Red Stars.

Coming off a BYE week, the Houston Dynamo came back home to host the New England Revolution with the hopes to secure a win after losing two points in stoppage time on the road against DC United in their last match. New England would be looking for a positive result as well after conceding two goals and seeing a draw at home against New York City FC.

Wilmer Cabrera made some significant changes from the previous Starting XI, including a change of formation and players. The team would be playing a 4-3-3 formation and would also see the MLS debut of defender Alejandro Fuenmayor in the center back position, this while Adolfo Machado is assigned as the right back for the night. Tomas Martinez would be sent back to the three-man midfield while keeping the same attacking front from the past few matches.

Houston would be starting to fight a uphill battle after DaMarcus Beasley was shown a straight-red card in the thirty-fifth minute after he pulled down Cristian Padilla to deny a goal-scoring opportunity. The Dynamo would be playing with 10 men for the remainder of the match.

Despite having a man disadvantage, the Dynamo held up well during the start of the second half and did have cracks at changing the scoreline. But New England would make matters worse at the seventy-first minute after Cristian Penilla would get past Adolfo Machado from the flank to score the second goal from close range.

The match would end in another loss at home for the Houston Dynamo, and a result that would concern fans this early in the season.

Aside from the key starters that remain missing for the Dynamo: silly mistakes, defensive gaps, and a inconsistent form to finish goal-scoring opportunities are the reasons behind the latest results for the team. They must adjust the previous formation and/or bring a new plan to the table while they still have plenty of season left.

The Dynamo rescheduled the match on Saturday, April 7 against the New York Red Bulls to Wednesday, August 29. This week will be a good opportunity for the team to regroup and take the next course of action.

The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros returned to action on Saturday against the Sacramento Republic FC after their match in the morning of Wednesday, March 28 against Reno 1868 FC was rescheduled due to traveling complications by the visiting team. The Toros seek their first win of the season while Sacramento are coming off a road win against Orange County.

Not many tactical changes were made from the previous Starting XI, but Gerson Echeverry introduced many old and new faces including Jorginho James, Omar Ontiveros, Matias Zaldivar, John Montano, and Aldo Quinatilla, promising goals and a new face in the back line.

The first half would be back and forth for both teams without a clear dominant side, each team would have their legitimate chances at goal but would have inconsistent possession for the half.

The second half would be a different story though. RGVFC would finally score first as Aldo Quinatilla forced a penalty and Todd Wharton would score from the spot in the fifty-first minute. The Toros did a great job with the offensive pressure and putting numbers forward to finally make the difference of the match.

Nico Corti would come up big between the sticks for the Toros as he would stop Sacramento's penalty kick in the seventy-seventh minute to preserve the lead.

At the seventy-ninth minute, Aldo Quinatilla would make a great pass to Jorginho James and the Jamaican would score a fantastic goal from outside the box to double the score at 2-0. But it would not take long for Sacramento to cut the lead in half after Sacramento's Cameron Iwasa connects the cross from long range and would score off the header.

But it would be another disappointing end of the match for the Toros as Conor Donovan would deflect the incoming cross to an angle that would get past Nico Corti to score the own goal and tie the score at 2-2 in the last minutes of stoppage time.

It can be noticed that the Toros relaxed defensively compared to the first half, and that is what ultimately decided another match for them. Echeverry and the team are going to have to address their defensive issues or suffer the consequences later on.

The Toros will play their first road match of the season on Saturday, April 7 at 7:00 PM CDT against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.