Pregame: Dynamo at Sounders

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The Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders open the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs with a Thursday night match at Qwest Field in Seattle. The Dynamo are aiming for their third MLS Cup championship in four years, while Seattle is making its playoff debut in its inaugural season at the MLS level. The teams met three times in the regular season, with Seattle going 2-0-1, including an overtime win in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

By the way, ESPN's (and 790's) coverage tonight starts at 9 p.m., but kickoff is at 9:25 p.m. CT.

Dynamo Notes
• Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis set MLS regular season career highs with 26 starts and 12 assists after picking up two assists in the final game of the regular season against Chivas USA on Sunday. Davis finished the year as the MLS co-leader in assists with Colorado’s Omar Cummings. Davis also netted five goals, one shy of his career high, and had an assist in CONCACAF Champions League play in February.
• Three different players scored for the Dynamo in Sunday’s regular season-ending 3-2 win over Chivas USA, with Andrew Hainault, Dominic Oduro, and Abe Thompson each netting his first MLS goal for the Dynamo.
• In the Dynamo’s 10 all-time playoff games, they have outscored opponents 16-11. Forward Brian Ching is the team’s all-time leading playoff scorer with five goals. Brad Davis, Paul Dalglish, and Dwayne De Rosario are all tied for second with two goals each.
• The Dynamo have seven different active players who have made at least 10 starts in the MLS Cup Playoffs, while only six Seattle players have ever made an MLS postseason start.
• Of Houston’s 10 all-time playoff games, five players have started all 10 games, but only two – Brian Mullan and Pat Onstad – are expected to start on Thursday (Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario). Brad Davis has played in all 10 games but made nine starts; Brian Ching has started nine games but missed the 2007 MLS Cup final due to injury. Thursday’s game is expected to be the first playoff start for Andrew Hainault, Geoff Cameron, and Mike Chabala.
• The Dynamo will take the field on Thursday without midfielder Corey Ashe (right knee sprain) and defender Richard Mulrooney (knee surgery). As of Tuesday, forward Luis Angel Landín and midfielder Ricardo Clark were both listed as probable.

Up Next: Houston hosts second leg
The Dynamo will host the second leg of the series on Sunday, November 8, at 2 p.m. at Robertson Stadium. Houston is 4-1 all-time in playoff home games and has the best home regular season winning percentage in the league over the last four years.

Head-to-head notes
• The teams met three times this season, including a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal. While all three games did end or almost ended 1-1, Seattle got the edge in a pair of 2-1 wins en route to a 2-0-1 record in the series. On July 11, the Sounders were awarded a controversial equalizer when Houston’s Mike Chabala appeared to have cleared a Fredy Montero shot off the line. Seattle went on to win 2-1. In the Open Cup semifinal, the Sounders tied the game in the 89th minute and won in overtime. On August 23 in Houston, the teams finally did play to a 1-1 tie.
• In the Dynamo’s three games against Seattle in 2009, only two active players – Brad Davis and Brian Mullan – played in all three games. Davis started all three, scoring the opening goal on 7/11, while Mullan came on as a substitute and finished the game despite injury in the Open Cup semifinal. Seattle, on the other hand, had seven players compete in all three games: Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Pete Vagenas, Sebastien Le Toux, Steve Zakuani, and Nate Jaqua.
• There are numerous ties between the two teams, including: former United Soccer Leagues Seattle Sounders Brian Ching, Craig Waibel, and Cam Weaver all play for Houston; Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear once played for the Sounders; former Dynamo players Pat Ianni and Nate Jaqua play for Seattle; Waibel and Mike Chabala are former Universty of Washington players; Weaver is from Seattle, and Tally Hall is from SeaTac, WA.
• Houston went 2-5-1 on the road against Western Conference opposition this season, including a controversial 2-1 loss at Seattle on July 11. That game was the only MLS game this season in which the Dynamo scored first but lost (13-1-4).

Miscellaneous notes
• Out of Houston’s 41 games in all competitions this year, Bobby Boswell, the 2008 Dynamo Ironman of the Year, has appeared in a team-high 38 games. Goalkeeper Pat Onstad (34 games) was the only Dynamo player to play every minute of Houston’s 30 MLS matches.
• Houston finished tied for the lead in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Galaxy and was seeded second in the Western Conference on the head-to-head tiebreaker despite tying for the league lead in wins (13) and goal differential (+10) with Chivas USA and the Columbus Crew, respectively. The Dynamo also led the league with the fewest goals allowed for the third consecutive year, tied this year with their first-round playoff opponent, the Seattle Sounders, with 29 goals allowed.
• The Dynamo have had significantly more success in the first half this year than in the second half. In fact, Houston was +16 (26 goals for, 10 against) in the first half but -6 (13 goals for, 19 against) in the second half.
• Despite beginning competitive play in February, Houston has not played a game in temperatures below 60 degrees all season; Thursday’s high temperature in Seattle is expected to be 52 degrees.