Houston Dynamo season 2006

Infobox Football club season
club = Houston Dynamo
season = 2006
league = Major League Soccer
league result = 2^nd, West (11-8-13)
manager = Dominic Kinnear
chairman = Philip Anschutz
cup1 = MLS Cup | cup1 result = W Conference Semifinal
W Western Conference
W MLS Cup 2006
cup2 = U.S. Open Cup | cup2 result = Semifinals
cup3 = Carolina Challenge Cup | cup3 result = Winners
league topscorer = Brian Ching (11)
Dwayne De Rosario (11)
prevseason = Inaugural
nextseason = 2007The 2006 Houston Dynamo season was the ignaural season of the club.

The team was created on December 15, 2005 when the San Jose Earthquakes were relocated, due to owner AEG's failure to secure a soccer-specific stadium. Even though all of San Jose's players and coaches moved to Houston, the team's name, logo, history and statistics were not transferred and remain inactive in San Jose thus making the Dynamo a new team, similar to the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.

First Season

The Dynamo played their first game on April 2, 2006. Amidst a crowd of 25,462 people in Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo beat the Colorado Rapids 5–2. Brian Ching led the charge for the Dynamo with four goals, all of which were set up with assists from teammate Dwayne De Rosario. In stoppage time, Alejandro Moreno scored MLS' Goal of the Week with a game-clinching bicycle kick. On May 6, 2006, the Houston Dynamo won their first intrastate rivalry game against FC Dallas, 4–3 at Robertson Stadium.

The Dynamo finished their first season in Houston with an 11-8-13 record, good for second place in the Western Conference. They lost the first game of the two-legged conference semifinal to C.D. Chivas USA, 2-1, on October 22 in Los Angeles. Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan stopped De Rosario on a penalty kick that could have tied the match.

In the second leg on October 29, Houston defeated Chivas USA 2-0 at Robertson Stadium, advancing in dramatic fashion. After a red card to Chivas' Juan Francisco Palencia, Houston's Brad Davis converted a second-half penalty kick to tie the aggregate score. With the match in second-half stoppage time, Brian Ching headed in the winning goal from close range to delight the crowd of more than 17,000.

On November 5, 2006, the Dynamo defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-1 in the Western Conference final to earn a spot in its first MLS Cup. Scottish forward Paul Dalglish scored twice in front of an MLS Cup Playoffs-high crowd of 23,107.

On November 12, 2006, the Dynamo defeated the New England Revolution 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie to win the 2006 MLS Cup held at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The game was scoreless until the second session of extra time, when New England's Taylor Twellman scored. Only one minute and six seconds later, Brian Ching headed in the tying goal for Houston, and the championship was, for the first time in MLS history, decided by a shootout. Substitutes Kelly Gray and Stuart Holden made Houston's first two penalty kicks, and standouts Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching made the last two. Ching's gave Houston a 4-3 lead, and goalkeeper Pat Onstad stopped New England's Jay Heaps on the final attempt to secure the win.

With the win, the Dynamo advanced to the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

2006 SuperDraft

Western Conference Standings

x-Clinched Playoff Spot; y-Conference Champion

MLS Playoffs 2006

Conference Semifinals

footballbox
date = October 22, 2006
team1 = Houston Dynamo
score = 1–2
team2 = C.D. Chivas USA
goals1 = Ching 75'
goals2 = Razov 45'
Palencia 68'
stadium = Home Depot Center: 15,110
footballbox
date = October 29, 2006
team1 = C.D. Chivas USA
score = 0–2
team2 = Houston Dynamo
goals1 =
goals2 = Davis 64'
Ching 93+'
stadium = Robertson Stadium: 17,440"Houston advance 3-2 on aggregate."----

Conference Finals

footballbox
date = November 5, 2006
team1 = Colorado Rapids
score = 1–3
team2 = Houston Dynamo
goals1 = Kirovski 4'
goals2 = Dalglish 10'
Dalglish 21'
Mullan 71'
stadium = Robertson Stadium: 23,107----

MLS Cup 2006

footballbox
date = November 12, 2006
team1 = Houston Dynamo
score = 1–1 (AET)
(4-3 PSO)
team2 = New England Revolution
goals1 = Ching 114'
goals2 = Twellman 113'
stadium = Pizza Hut Park: 22,427penshootoutbox
penalties1 = Gray scored
Holden scored
De Rosario scored
Davis saved
Ching scored
penaltyscore = 4–3
penalties2 = Joseph scored
Reis scored
Noonan missed
Twellman scored
Heaps saved|