Houston Astros: Six reasons not to worry about this team’s adversity

Reason #3: DY-NA-MITE!

With the Houston Dynamo, it was about a team that had been relocated from San Jose following a season where they won their division but failed to get past the quarterfinals. A lot of questions came about of how soccer was going to fare in Houston. Well, the Dynamo finished second in the West division. But they ran into trouble against Chivas USA in the two-legged Western Conference semifinal. After falling in the first leg 2-1, it would take two second-half goals for the Dynamo to advance with a 2-0 victory.

Following a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids in the conference finals, the Dynamo took on the New England Revolution for the 2006 MLS Cup. A scoreless game was broken by New England in the second half of extra time. But Brian Ching equalized sending the game to penalty kicks, where Houston won 4-3 to take the Cup.

A year later, the Dynamo struggled to start the season by losing five of their first eight games. Then after some trades, they caught fire with 11 straight unbeaten games and posting an MLS record 695 minutes of holding opponents scoreless.

They would reach the playoffs where they took on inter-state rival FC Dallas. Like 2007, the Dynamo lost the first leg 1-0. But they would rally in the second leg to win 4-1. A victory over the Kansas City Wizards (Now Sporting Kansas City) brought the Dynamo back to the MLS Cup title where again, they defeated New England. This time, the score was 2-0.