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Dynamo 1, Red Bulls 1

May 17, 2009 - 3:08 AM By KEITH SARGEANT STATS MLS Correspondent

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (STATS) -- It took the Houston Dynamo nearly 45 minutes to capitalize on a 1-man advantage, but when they did, the short-handed New York Red Bulls responded.

After substitute Chris Wondolowski put the Dynamo ahead with a goal in the 78th minute, fellow reserve John Wolyniec answered with a goal of his own 10 minutes later as Houston and New York played to a 1-all tie on Saturday night.

Wolyniec's goal was the first scored off Houston (3-2-3) since its 1-0 loss to D.C. United on April 4, a span of 491 minutes that is a season high in the MLS.

"I think it's been a while since I had a goal off the bench but I've known that I've been able to do it in the past so I was just trying to keep that same mindset," said Wolyniec, who received a blind pass from Dane Richards deep inside the box, turned and drilled his first goal of the season. "I was just hoping I was going to head it on, but I was a little far from the goal and it was the wrong angle so I just put it down and just hit it."

Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas was given a red card in the 35th minute for an elbow to Dynamo midfielder Brian Mullan's head. Mullan remained on the turf for about a minute, and the officials quickly cited Rojas for a red card.

Rojas' ejection meant the Red Bulls (2-5-3) had to play one man down for the final 55 minutes. Rojas, a former Venezuela pro who scored his first two MLS goals in New York's 4-1 victory over San Jose on May 8, will be forced to sit out the Red Bulls' next game against Chicago on May 24 for receiving the red card.

"I received the ball and I felt something on my back," Rojas said, offering his view of the altercation. "He was really strong on my back and when I started falling, my arm opened up and unfortunately hit his face. But I was falling. It was not my intention at all to make any aggression. I'm not that kind of player."

Though Houston extended its unbeaten streak to five games, the inability to capitalize on the 11-vs.-10 advantage made the tie bittersweet.

"It's definitely disappointing, especially being a man up," said Wondolowski, who netted his second goal of the season off an assist from Corey Ashe and a service ball from Brad Davis.

"We had a good streak of not giving up goals. Just definitely frustrating because anytime you have a lead, whether we're a man down or a man up, we think we should win the game."

While Juan Carlos Osorio wanted to see a replay before commenting on Rojas' ejection, the Red Bulls coach said the foul differential was telling. Houston was cited for 17 infractions, compared to New York's eight in a game that featured three yellow cards.

"I don't want to say too many things because then the league can react," Osorio said.

Houston coach Dominic Kinnear called the game "chippy."

"Both teams don't like to back down," Kinnear said, "so that's the way it comes about."