Houston Dynamo reaches MLS Cup again with new approach

• Houston tied D.C. United 1-1 to win the Eastern Conference finals 4-2 on aggregate
• The Dynamo clinched a spot in the MLS Cup for the fourth time in seven years
• After sneaking into the playoffs by one point, the Dynamo have turned it on in the postseason

WASHINGTON -- Brian Ching was a cornerstone of two MLS Cup-winning teams in Houston and one with the same core of players in San Jose. But Sunday night in RFK Stadium, after the Houston Dynamo clinched another trip to the MLS Cup with 4-2 aggregate win over D.C. United, Ching was the one carting around buckets of ice for the beer in a frothy celebration.

Ching, who has played only 23 minutes in the playoffs and none in Sunday's 1-1 tie, didn't mind.

"This is a great time for these guys to celebrate," Ching said. "I've been there, I've celebrated. It's time for the guys that did the work tonight to shine and celebrate. I'm just happy to be a part of it."

Ching, Brad Davis and Ricardo Clark are the survivors from the Dynamo's move from San Jose to Houston, though Clark went away to Europe for a while before rejoining the team this year. Upon arriving in Houston, the Dynamo won two straight MLS Cups, with Ching taking MVP honors in the 2006 final.

The core of players from those teams has moved on -- Dwayne De Rosario, the MVP of the Dynamo's 2007 triumph, took the field Sunday for D.C. United to a massive ovation. But Dominic Kinnear, the only coach in Dynamo history, is still in charge of a team that turns it up a notch for the playoffs.

"If you look at those first two teams when we moved from San Jose, it's kind of a who's who of MLS Cup champions and excellent players," Kinnear said. "The attitude's the same, but the personnel has changed a little bit."

And that personnel has the makings of a new core set for perennial postseason runs. Most of this Dynamo team was together last year when Houston returned to the MLS Cup final after a three-year absence.

"We had some great players back then; we have some great players now," Davis said. "It's a little bit different because we actually have a younger group of guys this time through."

Ching sees another difference.

"I think we're a little bit more skillful," Ching said. "In '06 and '07, we were gritty. Teams hated playing against us. I don't think we were as skillful as this team is."

Yet the current version has plenty of grit as well. Staked to a 3-1 lead in the two-game series after another good performance on their new home field, BBVA Compass Stadium, the Dynamo defended with numbers and spirit Sunday against an energized United team.

On one of the Dynamo's rare forays forward, Houston mainstay Davis slipped the ball to newcomer Oscar Boniek Garcia, who joined the team in June. Garcia ripped the ball into the roof of the net. The Dynamo nailed it down from there, mixing a couple of lines of solid defenders with a devastating counterattack.

This season, Houston crept into the playoffs with a 14-9-11 record, edging Columbus for the final Eastern playoff spot by one point. But excelling in the playoffs after a wayward regular season is nothing new for Houston.

"I don't think we overachieve," Davis said." It's no coincidence that we've made it (to the final) four out of seven years."

Ching thinks the Dynamo also flourish when they're under the radar, not weighed down by the expectations of glamorous MLS teams on the coasts.

"We're always overlooked, we're the underdogs, but we're happy to play that role because we keep getting back to the Cup," Ching said.