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Dynamo-Sounders Preview

Jul 10, 2009 - 8:41 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Houston (9-3-4) at Seattle (6-3-7), 4:00 p.m. EDT

The surprising Seattle Sounders will face the MLS-best Houston Dynamo twice in less than two weeks - once in league play and once in the US Open Cup.

On Saturday night, the Sounders will try to take advantage of a slew of key absences for the Dynamo and extend their home unbeaten streak to seven games.

Seattle (6-3-7) is 5-1-3 at Qwest Field, where it has outscored opponents 17-7. The club is also on a six-game unbeaten run (3-0-3) at home since falling 1-0 to Kansas City on April 11.

The Sounders kept that streak intact June 28, beating Colorado 3-0 before taking a break from league play to enter the US Open Cup.

The Sounders carried their success into that knockout tournament, advancing to the semifinals - and a home meeting with Houston (9-3-4) on July 21 - after Sebastien Le Toux converted a penalty kick with one minute left Tuesday to give them a 1-0 win over the Wizards.

They also beat USL side Portland 2-1 in the third round on July 1.

"It's always about titles and you always want to win games," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "I think our guys can for sure smell it now and taste it and obviously the next round is Houston and that's going to be a battle, it's going to be another tough game, but I think our team is looking forward to that.

"We're basically two steps away from trying to bring a title to Seattle."

Before facing Houston in Cup play, the Sounders have a chance to capitalize on a team depleted by national team commitments, injuries and suspensions.

The Dynamo will be without defenders Bobby Boswell and Geoff Cameron, who are serving one-game suspensions for an accumulation of yellow cards. Those absences are combined with injuries to defenders Eddie Robinson (knee surgery) and Wade Barrett (calf strain), and forward Cam Weaver (groin).

Houston managed to beat Kansas City 1-0 last Saturday, overcoming the absences of forward Brian Ching - the team leader with five goals - and midfielder Stuart Holden due to their participation for the U.S. at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Defender Andrew Hainault is playing for Canada in that tournament.

"We've had some guys out of the lineup for a variety of reasons, so we knew we were going to need some of the other guys to step up for us (against the Wizards)," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "It took us about 20 minutes to get settled down, but once we did I thought we played well."

On Tuesday, the Dynamo won 4-0 at Charleston of the USL, setting up the Open Cup meeting with Seattle.

With the Dynamo's defense severely shorthanded, Sounders forwards Fredy Montero and Nate Jaqua have a good chance to continue their hot play.

Montero is tied with the Rapids' Conor Casey for second in MLS with eight goals, while also ranking second with six assists. Jaqua has found the back of the net six times with five assists.

The duo combined in superb fashion against Colorado, as Jaqua netted two goals on assists by Montero after setting up a score for the Colombia native.

"I think just this last month it's gotten a lot better," Jaqua said of teaming with Montero. "His two assists to me were great and I knocked one on to him. That's what you want; two forwards working together, creating, combining, and scoring."