Houston out of Champions League

Loss in El Salvador dooms Dynamo's CONCACAF campaign

Even before they walked onto the field at Estadio Jorge "Calero" Suárez Landaverde, the Dynamo knew what they needed to do in order to advance to the quarterfinals.

Following Pachuca's victory against Arabe Unido earlier in the evening, the Dynamo just needed a win to go through to the knockout stage for a second consecutive year. Instead, Metapan was able to secure its first victory of the group stage.

Two minutes after goalkeeper Tally Hall pushed Alexander Escobar's low, bouncing shot over the crossbar for a corner kick, Metapan struck for the game's first goal in the seventh minute, capitalizing on a defensive miscue.

Ryan Cochrane attempted to shield the ball to Eddie Robinson at the top of the Dynamo 18-yard box, but Robinson struggled to receive the ball and Elias Montes pounced. His shot was initially saved by Hall, but the ball rolled into the back of the net to give Metapan a 1-0 lead.

One minute later, Anel Canales split the Houston central defense, beating Hall with a low shot to his left from the top of the area to double Metapan's lead.

The Dynamo drew a goal back in the 28th minute when Brian Ching slipped Geoff Cameron in and the forward tapped his shot from the edge of the six-yard box inside the far post.

Ching again served as playmaker, setting up a perfect opportunity for Dominic Oduro in the 45th. But Oduro somehow missed the target from close range.

The Dynamo equalized in the first minute of stoppage time on a bizarre goal by goalkeeper Hall, whose 70-yard kick took one bounce inside the penalty area and landed in the net as Metapan goalkeeper Jose Gonzalez collided with Ching, who both challenged for the 50-50 ball as it came into the box on the fly.

At halftime, Alvaro Alfaro replaced Gonzalez between the posts for Metapan and Stuart Holden came on for John Michael Hayden for the Dynamo.

But as was the case in the first half, the Dynamo conceded an early goal as Emerson Umana's 40-yard free kick deflected off the wall and past a helpless Hall in the 56th minute for the eventual game-winner.

The Dynamo nearly equalized again on the hour mark when Holden took Erik Ustruck's back heel and sent a perfect cross to Ching, but the Hawaiian's header at the edge of the 6-yard box was saved by Alfaro, who got his right hand on the attempt.

In the 72nd minute, Mike Chabala came on for Brad Davis and Abe Thompson replaced Ustruck three minutes later as the Dynamo pushed numbers forward in an attempt to equalize.

Thompson played a nice ball into the box, Holden took a quick touch and then Ching fired wide four minutes from full time in the Dynamo's final chance.

The Dynamo return to Major League Soccer action with their regular-season finale against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center Sunday afternoon.

Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com

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