This is it! The first real game of 2014! Who: Houston Dynamo v. New England Revolution When: Saturday, March 8 @ 7:30 pm CST Where: BBVA Compass Stadium; Houston, TX Records: New England (0-0-0) Houston Dynamo (0-0-0) TV: ???? Radio: ???? This kicks off the 9th MLS season for the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo are 101-73-80 (W-L-T) overall in regular season games in the first 8 years and 70-21-36 in home regular season games over that span. In home league openers the record is 4-1-3. In 2013 the Dynamo went 1-1-1 against New England. The loss was here in Houston on May 18. The Dynamo avenged that loss with a win in Foxborough on July 13 and then the teams drew up there again on September 28. New England went 14-11-9 last year finishing in a tie with Houston but they had the tie-breaker to claim the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They were 6-6-5 in road games last year with a -2 goal difference. The Revs wrap up preseason play on Saturday, March 1, in the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson. They are 1-1-3 with two games left to play in the preseason. After the game in Houston, New England's next league game is at Philadelphia on March 15. The Dynamo finished the 2013 regular season with a record of 14-11-9 and in 4th place in the Eastern Conference. In home regular season league games Houston was 9-4-4 with a +7 goal difference. So far in the 2014 preseason the Dynamo are 6-3-0 with two games left to play. The final preseason game is Saturday, March 1, in Charleston. After the Revs game the Dynamo stay at home to host Montreal on March 15.
New England @ Houston, all-time: 07/22/06 HOU 1-1 NER 05/19/07 HOU 0-1 NER 06/12/08 HOU 0-2 NER 07/25/09 HOU 0-1 NER 10/10/10 HOU 1-2 NER 04/17/11 HOU 1-0 NER 09/29/12 HOU 2-0 NER 05/18/13 HOU 0-2 NER That's 2-5-1 with 5 goals scored and 9 allowed. New England has by far the best record of any MLS team in games in Houston.
Referee assignments for the opening games. http://www.proreferees.com/mls-assignments-03-08-14-03-09-14.php Houston Dynamo vs. New England Revolution BBVA Compass Stadium (8:30pm ET) REFEREE: ISMAIL ELFATH AR1: George Gansner AR2: Mark Cahen 4TH: Jair Marrufo Of course, that may change with a potential work stoppage by the referees: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/wp/2014/02/22/mls-referees-authorize-strike/
NER hav made some good acquisitions and made the playoffs last year. I think Bunboo-ree is a good pickup as well as their Columbian Center back and Lee Nyguen (is a bitch but he's pretty crafty in the middle). Lee is from Houston and I was disappointed he wasn't really pursued by Houston. Not a good locker room fit probably - no hunting, guns, camo, or country music intrest. That seems kind of a common thread with some players favored by the coaching staff..
Boniek Garcia has been called up for the Honduras-Venezuela game on March 5. Bengsten from New England has been called up also. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...-mls-players-called-march-5-fifa-fixture-date
Where has this Lee Nyugen-Houston connection come from? He was born in Richardson, went to Plano East, and played for the Dallas Texans http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/nguyen_lee00.html
Thank you-that explains it-I was living in Pittsburgh then, and have trouble recalling the first half of that season
My bad on his hometown, at least he is from Texas and he is used to the humidity so I think he could have had no problem adapting to the weather here. I remember someone saying he was from Houston during BS daft talk back when he left college. He spurned MLS and tried his luck in Europe for a few years then Vietnam. Then he sign a $60k contract with the REvs who won him via waiver draft.
I remember looking for signs of the HD particpating in the waiver draft for him and we were never mentioned at the time.
Well, I would also like to point oput that Nugyen would have been $940,000 cheaper than Alex Lopex - who apparently doesn't want to get near the opponents penalty box.
My 2014 Season Opener Starting Line Up Without Boniek: Bruin-----OmarBrad-----Barnes-----Cascio RicoAshe-----Taylor-----Horst-----Sarkodie Hall Move Barnes up & Omar out if Boniek is back. I still want to see this lineup at some point this year: Barnes-----OmarBrad-----Boniek-----Cascio Creavalle-----RicoAshe-----Taylor-----Sarkodie Hall
This could be effective as well, if we wanted to use fast wingers. 4-3-3 Omar----Barnes----Cascio Davis----Rico------Boniek Ashe--JT----CB--Sarkodie -----------Hall
I like it, hadn't thought about advancing Cascio further up field. Could he do well in this role? I really liked what I saw in the Rapids scrimmage but that's about all I've seen of him. The number of line ups Dom could throw out with this group of players is impressive. Finding the right one (or creating the right match ups) might be key to our season. I also think I am higher on Creavalle (& Cummings / lower on Bruin & Barnes) than most. I just love his versatility (has he played every spot on the field for us?) and general play. I've noticed he's been omitted in a lot of starting line ups around here. Is it simply because he's hurt or do people see a line up with Cascio wide, Boniek central, & Rico deep as the preferred starting line up? I can't argue against it, just curious. Creavalle as a super-sub type will be a great luxury to have.
He seems to be a good wide player. At least from what I have seen from him. Creavalle is a good player at a couple of spots. He had a good season last year. It's just a tough midfield to break into, with players like Davis, Rico, OBG, Barnes, and Driver around. The Dynamo seem to be rich in good midfielders.