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Ching leads scoring barrage as Dynamo downs RSL

Aug 17, 2008 - 4:30 AM By Jeremy Rakes PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Brian Ching scored a goal and added an assist as the Houston Dynamo scored four times in the first half and held on for a 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday at Robertson Stadium.

Thanks to its three-game winning streak, Houston (7-4-8) took a two-point lead over Real Salt Lake (7-7-6) for first place in the Western Conference.

"The result is the most important thing to come out of the game," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We won and we are on top of the conference. All the guys played well tonight. We could have probably scored more goals tonight, especially in the second half."

With the Dynamo trailing, 2-1, midway through the first half, Ching knotted the match with his ninth tally of the season, firing a left-footed shot from the upper right box into the left side of the net past goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

Houston took a 3-2 lead in the 35th minute on Ricardo Clark's first tally of the campaign. Off a throw-in, Clark gained possession from about 35 yards out on the right side and cut loose a one-timer that entered the upper left side.

"This team has come from behind many times," Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis said. "That's why the game is 90 minutes. We are down one goal; we know that if we stick to our game plan and have faith in our guys and keep playing, eventually, we will come back and create chances and we are going to score goals."

Nate Jaqua extended the advantage in the 42nd minute with his first goal of the season, taking a pass from Ching in the left box and converting a low line drive to give Houston a 4-2 halftime lead.

"There were good things all over the field," RSL forward Robbie Findley said. "We wanted to come out early and try to press them and get a goal early if we could, and that happened. We've just got to go back to looking at tape and seeing defensively where we went wrong. Our heads are still up."

The season-high four first-half goals eclipsed Houston's previous best overall game total of three, which was accomplished twice.

Kenny Deuchar halved the deficit with a goal in the 80th minute. Findley headed a pass to Deuchar, who guided a shot from the right box past goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

"It was uncharacteristic of us," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "We haven't played that loose of a game in a long time and credit Houston, they're a very good attacking team and very mobile moving around.

"We just had a bad first half. We were able to hold them in the second half; unfortunately, we came up short."

Onstad stopped four shots, while Rimando made five saves for RSL.

"We gave up some rather easy chances and we were disappointed that happened," Dynamo midfielder Wade Barrett said. "It's always a nice thing when you can learn a lesson and get three points at the same time. I think we will learn a lesson from the mistakes we made tonight, and, hopefully, not let it happen again."