2006 Houston Dynamo season explained

Club:	Houston Dynamo
Season:	2006
League:	Major League Soccer
League Result:	Conference 2nd Overall: 5th
Owner:	Philip Anschutz (AEG)
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Dominic Kinnear
Chairman:	Oliver Luck Chris Canetti
Chrtitle:	President COO
Stadium:	Robertson Stadium
Cup1 Result:	Winners
Cup2 Result:	Semifinals
League Topscorer:	Brian Ching Dwayne De Rosario 11 goals each
Season Topscorer:	Brian Ching 14 goals
Pattern La1:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern B1:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern Ra1:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern Sh1:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern So1:	_3_stripes_white
Leftarm1:	FF5F00
Body1:	FF5F00
Rightarm1:	FF5F00
Shorts1:	F2F2F2
Socks1:	FF5F00
Pattern La2:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern B2:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern Ra2:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern Sh2:	_LIBERO_WHITE
Pattern So2:	_3_stripes_on_white
Leftarm2:	F2F2F2
Body2:	F2F2F2
Rightarm2:	F2F2F2
Shorts2:	FF5F00
Socks2:	FF5F00
Nextseason:	2007
American:	y

The 2006 Houston Dynamo season was the inaugural season of the club.

The team was created on December 15, 2005 when the San Jose Earthquakes were relocated, due to owner AEG's failure to secure a soccer-specific stadium. Even though all of San Jose's players and coaches moved to Houston, the team's name, logo, history and statistics were not transferred and remained inactive in San Jose thus making the Dynamo a new team, similar to the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.

First season

The Dynamo played their first game on April 2, 2006. Amidst a crowd of 25,462 people in Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo beat the Colorado Rapids 5 - 2. Brian Ching led the charge for the Dynamo with four goals, all of which were set up with assists from teammate Dwayne De Rosario. In stoppage time, Alejandro Moreno scored MLS' Goal of the Week with a game-clinching bicycle kick. On May 6, 2006, the Houston Dynamo won their first intrastate rivalry game against FC Dallas, 4 - 3 at Robertson Stadium. Craig Waibel had a career year for the Dynamo, ending up one of the finalists for defender of the year. He logged 5 goals and 1 assist during the regular season. Ronald Cerritos and Julian Nash were released in June to make room for Paul Dalglish.

Mike Chabala, Stuart Holden, Martin Hutton, Patrick Ianni, Mpho Moloi, Adrian Serioux, and Zach Wells were the new additions to the pre existing San Jose Earthquakes 2005 Roster.

The Dynamo finished their first season in Houston with an 11–8–13 record, good for second place in the Western Conference. They lost the first game of the two-legged conference semifinal to C.D. Chivas USA, 2–1, on October 22 in Los Angeles. Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan stopped De Rosario on a penalty kick that could have tied the match.

In the second leg on October 29, Houston defeated Chivas USA 2–0 at Robertson Stadium, advancing in dramatic fashion. After a red card to Chivas' Juan Francisco Palencia, Houston's Brad Davis converted a second-half penalty kick to tie the aggregate score. With the match in second-half stoppage time, Brian Ching headed in the winning goal from close range to delight the crowd of more than 17,000.

On November 5, 2006, the Dynamo defeated the Colorado Rapids 3–1 in the Western Conference final to earn a spot in its first MLS Cup. Scottish forward Paul Dalglish scored twice in front of an MLS Cup Playoffs-high crowd of 23,107.

On November 12, 2006, the Dynamo defeated the New England Revolution 4–3 on penalty kicks after a 1–1 tie to win the 2006 MLS Cup held at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The game was scoreless until the second session of extra time, when New England's Taylor Twellman scored. Only one minute and six seconds later, Brian Ching headed in the tying goal for Houston, and the championship was, for the first time in MLS history, decided by a shootout. Substitutes Kelly Gray and Stuart Holden made Houston's first two penalty kicks, and standouts Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching made the last two. Ching's gave Houston a 4–3 lead, and goalkeeper Pat Onstad stopped New England's Jay Heaps on the final attempt to secure the win.

With the win, the Dynamo advanced to the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

2006 Dynamo Squad

This is the final roster for the Houston Dynamo at the end of the 2006 Season.

Player movement

Players who were with the Earthquakes at the end of the 2005 season and moved to Houston are not listed. Likewise, players who were with the Earthquakes and were released, retired, or out of contract after the 2005 season and did not move with the team to Houston are not listed.

In

Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.

Date	Player	Position	Age	Previous Club	Notes	Ref
January 20, 2006	Patrick Ianni	DF	20	UCLA	Selected with the 8th overall pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft	^[1]
January 20, 2006	Zach Wells	GK	24	MetroStars	Acquired in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft	^[2]
January 20, 2006	Andre Schmid	FW	22	St. John's University	Selected with the 8th pick in the 3rd round (32nd overall) in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft
January 20, 2006	Mike Chabala	MF	21	University of Washington	Selected with the 8th pick in the 4th round (44th overall) in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft	^[3]
January 26, 2006	Mpho Moloi	MF	22	University of Connecticut	Selected with the 7th overall pick in the 2006 MLS Supplemental Draft	^[4]
February 16, 2006	Marcus Storey	FW	23	Columbus Crew	Acquired in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2007 MLS Supplemental Draft	^[5]
March 24, 2006	Adrian Serioux	MF	26	New York Red Bulls	Acquired in exchange for Danny O'Rourke	^[6]
April 18, 2006	Stuart Holden	MF	20	Sunderland	Free Transfer	^[7]
August 17, 2006	Paul Dalglish	MF	29	Hibernian	Free Transfer	^[8]

Out

Date	Player	Position	Age	Destination Club	Notes	Ref
March 24, 2006	Danny O'Rourke	DF	22	New York Red Bulls	Traded to New York Red Bulls in exchange for Adrian Serioux
	Andre Schmid	FW	22	New York Red Bulls	Released. Joined the reserves for the Red Bulls
August 21, 2006	Ronald Cerritos	FW	31	San Salvador	Released	^[9]

Loans

Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.

Out

Date	Player	Position	Loaned to	Notes	Ref
	Mike Chabala	MF	Portland Timbers		^[10]
June 29, 2006	Martin Hutton	GK	Portland Timbers		^[11]

Friendlies

Carolina Challenge Cup

Competitions

Major League Soccer

See main article: 2006 Major League Soccer season.

Standings

Overall

Matches

US Open Cup

See main article: 2006 U.S. Open Cup.

Player statistics

Appearances, goals, and assists

No.! rowspan="2"

Pos	Nat
Apps			Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
1	GK			1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
2	DF			32	4	4	25	2	3	4	0	1	3	2	0
3	DF			22	0	1	20	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0
4	DF			2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
5	DF			32	1	0	27	1	0	3	0	0	2	0	0
6	DF			22	0	0	18	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	0
7	MF			9	2	0	6	1	0	0	0	0	3	1	0
8	FW			10	4	1	6	2	1	4	2	0	0	0	0
9	MF			37	3	8	31	2	4	4	1	3	2	0	1
11	MF			34	2	14	28	1	11	4	1	2	2	0	1
12	FW			6	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	MF			36	2	4	31	2	3	3	0	1	2	0	0
14	MF			37	12	7	30	11	5	4	0	2	3	1	0
15	FW			37	6	7	30	3	6	4	0	1	3	3	0
16	DF			33	5	2	28	5	1	4	0	1	1	0	0
17	MF			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	GK			38	0	1	32	0	0	4	0	0	2	0	1
19	DF			4	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
20	FW		^[12]	16	1	1	15	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
21	DF			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF			18	1	2	13	1	0	2	0	0	3	0	2
23	MF			0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF			28	0	3	31	0	3	4	0	0	3	0	0
25	FW			26	14	2	21	11	2	4	3	0	1	0	0
26	FW			1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
30	GK			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
51	MF			27	1	0	20	1	0	4	0	0	3	0	0 Disciplinary record No.! rowspan="2" Pos Nat Player Total MLS MLS Playoffs US Open Cup 2 DF Eddie Robinson 13 1 11 1 0 0 2 0 3 DF Kevin Goldthwaite 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 DF Ryan Cochrane 5 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 6 DF Kelly Gray 3 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 8 FW Paul Dalglish 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 MF Brian Mullan 6 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 11 MF Brad Davis 5 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 13 MF Ricardo Clark 6 1 4 1 2 0 0 0 14 MF Dwayne De Rosario 3 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 15 FW Alejandro Moreno 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 16 DF Craig Waibel 4 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 18 GK Pat Onstad 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 24 DF Wade Barrett 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 25 FW Brian Ching 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 51 MF Adrian Serioux 5 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 Honors and awards MLS Player of the Week !Week!Player!Ref 1 Brian Ching ^[13] 6 Dwayne De Rosario MLS Player of the Month !Month!Player!Ref. April Brian Ching ^[14] Annual !Honor!Player!Ref. MLS All-Star Brian Ching Ricardo Clark Dwayne De Rosario Eddie Robinson ^[15] MLS Best XI Ricardo Clark Dwayne De Rosario ^[16] MLS Cup MVP Brian Ching ^[17] MLS Goal of the Year Brian Ching ^[18] MLS All-Star Game MVP Dwayne De Rosario Dynamo team awards !MVP!Defensive Player of the Year!Humanitarian of the Year!Ref. Dwayne De Rosario Eddie Robinson Craig Waibel ^[19] Uniforms Type Shirt Shorts Socks First appearance / Info Home Orange White Orange Home Alt. Orange Black Orange MLS, April 22 against Salt Lake City Away White Orange White Away Alt. White Black White References

Notes and References

1. Web site: Major League Soccer: Roster: Player Bio. https://web.archive.org/web/20090908140806/http://web.mlsnet.com/players/bio.jsp?team=t260&player=ianni_p&playerId=ian432955&statType=current. dead. 2009-09-08. 2009-09-08. 2019-05-13.
2. Web site: Zach Wells retires from Major League Soccer. January 13, 2010. MLS Soccer. May 13, 2019.
3. Web site: 2006 MLS SuperDraft. January 20, 2006. MLS Soccer. May 13, 2019. June 1, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200601104907/https://www.mlssoccer.com/history/superdraft/2006. dead.
4. Web site: Midfielder: Mpho Moloi. 2006-04-02. Houston Chronicle. 2019-05-13.
5. Web site: Crew Trades Storey For Pick. 2006-02-16. OurSports Central. en. 2019-05-13.
6. Web site: Red Bull New York Acquires Danny O'Rourke In Trade With Dynamo - Houston Sports News Story - KPRC Houston. https://web.archive.org/web/20080925181038/http://www.click2houston.com/sports/8238078/detail.html. dead. 2008-09-25. 2008-09-25. 2019-05-13.
7. Web site: Transactions . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070106081621/http://web.mlsnet.com/mls/transactions/index.jsp?club=mls&year=2006&month=04 . January 6, 2007 . February 28, 2023 . MLSnet.com.
8. Web site: Scottish midfielder Paul Dalglish signs with Dynamo. Fallas. Bernardo. Chronicle. Copyright 2006 Houston. 2006-08-17. Houston Chronicle. 2019-05-13.
9. Web site: Dynamo cut Cerritos. Fallas. Bernardo. Chronicle. Copyright 2006 Houston. 2006-08-22. Houston Chronicle. 2019-05-13.
10. Web site: Mike Chabala. Houston Dynamo. May 13, 2019.
11. Web site: portlandtimbers.com: Press Releases. https://web.archive.org/web/20071031100801/http://www.portlandtimbers.com/newsroom/pressreleases/index.html?article_id=166. dead. 2007-10-31. 2007-10-31. 2019-05-13.
12. Left during the season
13. Web site: MLS Fact and Record Book. Major League Soccer. 172. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716023458/https://www.mlssoccer.com/media-resources/mls-fact-and-record-book. July 16, 2018. May 17, 2020.
14. Web site: Brian Ching Named April's MLS Player of the Month. 2006-05-08. OurSports Central. en. 2020-05-17.
15. Web site: MLS Fact and Record Book. Major League Soccer. 144. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716023458/https://www.mlssoccer.com/media-resources/mls-fact-and-record-book. July 16, 2018. May 17, 2020.
16. Web site: MLS Fact and Record Book. Major League Soccer. 169. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716023458/https://www.mlssoccer.com/media-resources/mls-fact-and-record-book. July 16, 2018. May 17, 2020.
17. Web site: MLS Fact and Record Book. Major League Soccer. 135. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716023458/https://www.mlssoccer.com/media-resources/mls-fact-and-record-book. July 16, 2018. May 17, 2020.
18. Web site: MLS Fact and Record Book. Major League Soccer. 166. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716023458/https://www.mlssoccer.com/media-resources/mls-fact-and-record-book. July 16, 2018. May 17, 2020.
19. Web site: Dynamo Awards. Houston Dynamo. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153410/https://www.houstondynamo.com/history/awards . 2018-05-17 . May 17, 2020.