"We stood up, we were resolute," Coyle, Houston Dynamo after home win

For one half of soccer, the Dynamo showed what their offense is capable of in the final third with a pair of goals. For the other half, it showed a bit of moxie on the defensive front – shutting out one of the better teams in MLS's Western Conference.

For one night in early May, the Dynamo put together a complete performance to beat Sporting Kansas City 2-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium.

The Dynamo opened up the scoring account in the 30^th minute when Erick Torres put a through ball to Giles Barnes. Barnes one-timed it to the far post, passed the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Tim Melia for the 1-0 lead.

Right before the half, Barnes was at it again; this time getting the play started. After taking Sporting defender Chance Myers to chop city on the left corner, he found Cristian Maidana, who in turn found Andrew Wenger. Wenger shot a rocket to the top near corner to put the Dynamo up by a deuce.

"I'm just happy that the team won, I don't really care if I scored or if I assisted," Barnes said. "The main thing is for the team to get the three points, and that's what we did."

Sporting came out with urgency in the second half, looking to cut into the Dynamo lead. The Dynamo were hoping to not let a lead slip away again.

"The second half was more of a mental test," Dynamo coach Owen Coyle said after the match. "Given that we've earned some leads in certain games, and also lost a couple of very late goals in home games like game 1 and against Seattle.

"We stood up, we were resolute. I can't really recall any outstanding goal chances they had in the second half."

Coyle couldn't stress enough this week how important it was make BBVA an intimidating fortress. It was a point that the veteran leadership of the Dynamo hammered down during training sessions.

"A few of the seniors players popped in to what needed to be done,"Barnes reiterated. "I think everyone took it to the head, and it showed in our performance today."

The Dynamo have a quick turn-around this week, as they travel to the Bay Area midweek for a clash with the Quakes.