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Davis, Ching lead Dynamo past Crew

Aug 3, 2008 - 4:05 AM By Jeremy Rakes PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Brad Davis and Brian Ching each scored a goal as the Houston Dynamo avenged an earlier loss to the Columbus Crew with a 2-0 win Saturday at Robertson Stadium.

Pat Onstad made three saves for Houston (6-4-8), which is unbeaten in its last five games and took over sole possession of second place in the Western Conference. The Dyanmo is a point behind conference-leading Real Salt Lake (7-6-6)

"I think we played a real good game tonight, even though the heat and all the games we have played recently kind of caught up with us at the end there," Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said. "They had a couple of really good chances in the second half, but Pat came up with two big saves when he had to and we held them off from there."

Meanwhile, Columbus (9-6-4) suffered its first loss in three games and missed a chance to take over first place in the Eastern Conference. The Crew remains two points back of the New England Revolution (10-4-3).

"We played well given the totality of the 90 minutes," Columbus goalkeeper William Hesmer said. "The game of soccer is defined by critical moments. We had two mistakes and they punished us on the two mistakes."

Houston took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute on a goal by Davis. Brian Mullan fed Davis from the upper right box to the middle of the half circle. Davis fired a shot into the upper left net.

"It felt really good to get that first one tonight," Davis said. "I will be the first one to admit when I struggle in a game, and last week was not a good game for me. I struggled with how I played. It was very frustrating. It was good to be able to come out tonight and contribute with a goal."

Ching extended the lead in the 43rd minute. Nate Jaqua was stripped of the ball by a Columbus defender in the middle of the box, but Jaqua regained control and passed it inside the upper center box to Ching, who fired it into the lower left corner. Hesmer was badly fooled on the goal and dove to his left, away from the shot.

"I thought they finished their chances well in the first half," Columbus coach Sigi Schmid said. "They took them well. They got a little a bit of help on the first goal on an error by (Andy) Iro missing a header (to clear). They got a little help on the second goal by Andrew Peterson getting caught, and they buried them. I think we still had a chance to win the game."

Columbus' best chances to score came in the 60th and 61st minute, respectively, on shots by Alejandro Moreno and Guillermo Barros Schelotto, but Onstad made a diving save to his right to stop Moreno and stuck his left foot out to deny Schelotto.

Both teams were without key players due to suspensions. Houston was without midfielder Dwayne De Rosario because of yellow card accumulations and the Crew were without defender Frankie Hejduk for the same reason.

Columbus forward Steven Lenhart was suspended for two games after getting a red card for elbowing Colorado defender Facundo Erpen in the face in the Crew's last game.

Columbus defender Chad Marshall left the game in the 28th minute with a strained left knee.