Ching leads champs to Western final

Soccer Betting Lines

11/03/2007 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second straight season, the Houston Dynamo came back from a first leg deficit in the Western semis to advance to the Major League Soccer Western Conference Final.

Last season, the Dynamo fell at Chivas USA, 1-0, in the first leg before topping the California club, 2-0, in the return leg at Robertson Stadium to advance.

This season, after falling behind, 1-0, at FC Dallas in the first leg of the Western Semifinal Series, Houston dug deeper with Carlos Ruiz scoring the first goal in the game to push the Hoops' aggregate-goal lead to 2-0.

But the defending MLS Cup champs came through in the second half and overtime with Dallas down a man, with Brian Ching leading the way with two goals and an assist, to lead Houston to a 4-1 win and help them advance, 4-2, on aggregate.

With the loss, Dallas extends its drought of first-round playoff failures. The club has failed to advance past the conference semifinal series since 1999.

The game started ominously for the visitors, with top defender Clarence Goodson, the lone goalscorer in the first leg, forced to miss the game with a stomach ailment. This came after one of the teams other top defensive players, midfielder Pablo Ricchetti, missed the start because of a hamstring injury suffered in training this week. To top that off, starting goalkeeper Dario Sala tweaked his knee early in the contest and had to be replaced by rookie Ray Burse just 25 minutes in.

Despite all that misfortune, Dallas was able to score the game's first goal just 14 minutes in when veteran defender Bobby Rhine played a long ball into the Houston defensive third. the ball was headed in the box by Hoops striker Kenny Cooper right to fellow striker Ruiz, who fired just under the crossbar, first time, to make it 1-0 and increase the aggregate lead.

That was how the score stayed until the break, and Dallas looked like it was in good shape at the start of the second half until winger Arturo Alvarez lost his cool and kicked Brad Davis in the midsection after the two got tangled out of bounds in the 47th minute.

Referee Baldomero Toledo issued a straight red card, meaning Dallas, already thin in the back, had to play the entire second half down a man.

With that, Houston started pushing for the equalizer, but Burse held strong in goal. His best save occurred when he came out to challenge second-half sub Joseph Ngwenya in the box, knocking the ball out of bounds.

But the Houston pressure relented, with Stuart Holden scoring the first goal of his playoff career just two minutes later.

The goal was almost identical to the Ruiz' tally with Dynamo defender Ryan Cochran played a long ball into the box to Ching, who headed it to the top of the six to Holden for the volley.

The goal tied the score in the game at one, but Dallas still led on aggregate, 2-1.

That was short lived, however, as Ching got his first goal of the game just five minutes later after receiving a perfect through-ball from Dwayne De Rosario in the box. The U.S. international one-timed the shot, beating Burse to make it 2-1.

That was how the score stayed through regulation, forcing the teams to play two 15 minute extra time periods.

Seven minutes into the first extra time period, Ching powered home a deflected ball in the box to give the home side a one-goal lead before a Davis free kick from just outside the box three minutes later was placed perfectly into the top corner of the net to close out the scoring.

The Dynamo outshot Dallas 24-5 in the contest while the two teams combined for 40 fouls and 12 cards in the Texas rivalry match.

Houston will now play the winner of the Kansas city Chivas USA semifinal series in the Western final on Saturday. If Fourth-seeded Kansas City, which currently leads the series 1-0, advances, second-seeded Houston will host the game. If top-seeded Chivas USA advances, the Western Final will be at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

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Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

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Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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