Houston splits points with Sounders

Former Dynamo forward Jaqua scores equalizer for Seattle

Geoff Cameron scored his first goal of the season in the first half, but former Dynamo player Nate Jaqua secured the 1-1 draw for Seattle, who finished the regular season 1-0-1 against Houston.

Sounders FC (8-6-9) also beat the Dynamo (11-6-7) in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal last month.

Cameron scored his first MLS goal of the year in the 36th minute when he deflected a free kick by Brad Davis past Kasey Keller and into the net. For Davis, it was his team-leading eighth assist of the season. The Orange took advantage of Seattle when they are at their worst, at least statistically, In the last 15 minutes before halftime, in all MLS competitions, Sounders FC had allowed six goals.

Cameron's score, a near perfect play to give Houston the early lead, made it seven.

But Nate Jaqua, the former Dynamo that helped the team win it all in 2007 and played well for the Orange down the stretch last summer and fall, tied the game in the 70th minute when he took a pass from Steve Zakuani and headed home past Pat Onstad.

Onstad had no chance to stop the shot, and the Dynamo were caught looking around just minutes after Zakuani somehow missed a wide open net after a near-perfect pass from Freddie Ljungberg.

Landin entered the match in the 76th minute for starting forward Kei Kamara and received a standing ovation from the large crowd at Robertson Stadium.

He made several nice plays to get the ball and nearly assisted on what could have been the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute by Stuart Holden. But after finding a little bit of free space near the top of the box, Holden's shot zipped wide of the goal and to the left of Keller.

In a wild first half filled with fouls, scoring chances and Cameron's goal, it was Seattle that carried play as the speedy Ljungberg was hard for the Orange to contain in the first 45 minutes.

In the fourth minute, the Swede, back in action after missing two starts because of disorientation, took a nice pass from Jaqua, sped by Wade Barrett and fired a point-blank shot off Onstad from about 12 yards out.

Onstad got a piece of the ball, but the shot bore down on the back of the net. Amazingly, Barrett recovered and kicked the ball less than two yards away from the goal line for the save of the match.

Two minutes later, the Orange countered when Kei Kamara had a golden opportunity after taking a lob from Cameron. Kamara settled the ball and picked the far corner, but Keller lunged to his right and got a hand on the shot.

The ball skipped wide, and Kamara, back on the field after nursing a quad strain, buried his face in his hands to lament the missed opportunity.

In the 22nd minute, after carrying play, Seattle had another great chance when Ljungberg, again, got the best of Barrett. This time, instead of shooting, Ljungberg served a cross to midfielder Brad Evans, but the pass was far too high and the scoring chance was wasted.

Sounders FC had two quick chances to start the second half and nearly tied the game when Jaqua put the ball in the net in the 46th minute. But Jaqua took a pass from Osvaldo Alonso with just a single defender between him and the goal -- and Onstad pushed out of the goalmouth -- and linesman Adam Garner made the right call to negate the score.

Three minutes later, Sebastien Le Toux ripped a nice shot on goal that a busy Onstad knocked away with a two-handed save.

The Dynamo return to action at midweek with a trip to Panama to face Arabe Unido in the second match of group play in the CONCACAF Champions League, before traveling to Colorado next Sunday to face the Rapids. Sounders FC return home for a match Saturday afternoon against Toronto FC.

Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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