Desert Friendlies: Vancouver Whitecaps 2, Houston Dynamo 1

In their final match in the Desert Friendlies, the Houston Dynamo fell to the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1. The Dynamo went up early with Bobby Boswell heading in a free kick from Giles Barnes, but the Whitecaps drew even three minutes later and got a game winner in the second half.

The Dynamo started the match with four of their back five starters - Tally Hall, Kofi Sarkodie, Boswell, and Jermaine Taylor. The rest of the first half saw a mix of veterans and trialists. Giles Barnes, Adam Moffat, and Je-Vaughn Watson all started in the midfield and will be competing for a starting spot, while Franck Songo'o, Calum Elliot, and Jimmy Nealis were the trialists given an opportunity to shine.

Early on, Vancouver forward Camilo sent in a nice through ball to Eric Hurtado, who was able to manuever around Hall for a clear shot at goal. His shot hit the post and the rebound was sent over the bar. It's obviously still early in preseason, but you could just cringe seeing speedy players giving our defenders a challenge.

In the 30', Giles Barnes sent a free kick in that Boswell redirected into the net to give Houston the 1-0 lead.

Just three minutes later, talented Whitecaps's forward Darren Mattocks knocked in the tying goal. The play started with a perfect pass from Jun Marques Davidson to Hurtado. Jimmy Nealis did well to contain Hurtado, but he tapped the ball to Camilo, who used a brillient first touch to blow by Jermaine Taylor and set up Mattocks for the goal.

In the second half, Houston changed the majority of their entire lineup to ensure all the trialists saw some playing time along with some of the new faces.

In the 64', a rookie mistake cost the Dynamo and led to the game winning goal. MLS SuperDraft first round pick Jason Johnson tried to play the ball back to Erich Marscheider, but his pass was too soft and Cory Hertzog was able to get a one on one opportunity and get by the Houston goalkeeper for the 2-1 lead.

This was the final match for the Dynamo in the Desert Friendlies and the club will head back to Houston on Sunday.

Trialists on Display

With just under a month left before the start of the preseason, trialists Franck Songo'o and Calum Elliot have both seen some extended minutes recently. Songo'o, whose rights are owned by Portland, would require the Dynamo to trade for him if they'd like to keep him around. Elliot was a player who Houston wanted in camp last year, and has put in some solid performances. Either player would require an international spot, which I believe we have only one available (will confirm early this week). Songo'o hasn't done enough for me to make a trade seem likely. Time will tell, but since he's not in Portland's plans, he's going to need to try and find a home somewhere.

We'll have much more on all the trialists in the coming days.

Enjoy the Highlights:

You can watch the FULL MATCH here.

Here's the match summary:

Houston Dynamo vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
February 2, 2013 - Kino Sports Complex, Tucson, Ariz.
Preseason Scrimmage

Scoring Summary:


HOU - Bobby Boswell 1 (Giles Barnes 2) 30
VAN - Darren Mattocks (Camilo Sanvezzo, Erik Hurtado) 33
VAN - Corey Hertzog (unassisted) 64

Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall (Erich Marscheider 61); Kofi Sarkodie (Warren Creavalle 46), Bobby Boswell (Eric Brunner 46), Jermaine Taylor (Anthony Arena* 46), Jimmy Nealis* (Mike Chabala* 46); Giles Barnes (Alex Dixon 46), Adam Moffat (Luiz Camargo 46), Je-Vaughn Watson (Jason Johnson 46); Franck Songo'o* (Brian Ownby 61), Cam Weaver (Brian Ching 46), Calum Elliot* (Nic Ryan* 61; Yannick Smith* 81)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Brad Knighton (Joe Cannon 45); Matt Watson (Greg Klazura 45), Andy O'Brien (Carlyle Mitchell 45), Jay DeMerit (Brad Rusin 45), Young-Pyo Lee (Jordan Harvey 45); Erik Hurtado (Jaime Peters* 45), Jun Marques Davidson (Gershon Koffie 45), Alain Rochat (Russell Teibert 45), Kekuta Manneh (Paulo Jr. 45; Evan James* 72); Camilo Sanvezzo (Daigo Kobayashi 45), Darren Mattocks (Caleb Clarke 39; Corey Hertzog 45)

*Trialist

Discipline summary:

None.