BOX SCORE
CHESTER, Pa. -- Hosting the first of a two-game aggregate series against the Houston Dynamo on Sunday night at PPL Park, the typically stout Union held a perfect opportunity to put themselves on a pedestal before hitting the road.
Instead, they find themselves in a substantial hole.
Allowing a pair of first-half goals to Andre Hainault and Calen Carr, the Union dropped their first ever MLS Cup Playoff game, 2-1, in the opening game of the conference semifinals.
Its just one game, we still have to play another game, coach Peter Nowak said. But we made too many naive mistakes in the first half.
The one-goal differential forces the Union into the unfriendly road scenario of having to winning by two on Thursday at Robertson Stadium to advance to the conference finals.
Should the Union win by one, however, it would send the two teams into overtime. A draw or loss in Houston would end the Unions promising season. However, as strange as it sounds, Nowak feels that playing with their backs against the wall might yield a positive result.
It might be good for this team to not go into the second leg having to defend, said the coach. It might be a good thing that the pressure is off us right now. We have nothing to lose going to Houston.
The Union began the game looking defense first and hoping to strike on the counter attack. Playing Stefani Miglioranzi, starting his first match since Sept. 7, back with the usual four defenders -- Danny Califf, Carlos Valdes, Gabe Farfan and Sheanon Williams -- coach Peter Nowak was hoping to limit the Dynamo offensively.
We decided to go this way for both the defensive and offensive standpoint, Nowak said. But we werent balanced well in the first half. It was easy for them to put passes together.
It didnt work. A confused looking Union defense needed time to find the chemistry in the never-before-used formation and during that time, the Dynamo struck.
We were trying to get an extra guy in the box to deal with their crosses, but that left a lot of room for Brian Carroll to cover in the midfield, Califf said. We were better in the second half when we pushed an extra guy into the midfield to help Carroll out, so he didnt have to cover four guys. Ive always said we are a better team when were chasing the game.
Houston wasted little time in turning their strength in set pieces into a goal in the fifth minute, when a free kick from the always-potent Brad Davis found a seam into the Union box and deflected off the head of Hainault. The tipped shot easily found the back of the net to give the Dynamo the 1-0 lead, silencing the playoff-ready crowd.
We were going through a feeling-out process with the new formation, Califf said. Thats the first time we played that way so it took a few minutes to get sorted. We lost concentration on the set piece and werent on the same page during the second goal as well.
But the Union quickly responded.
On the immediate counter attack, just two minutes after the visitors' goal, midfielder Michael Farfan gained possession in the Dynamo zone before firing a cross-box pass to a surprisingly uncovered Sebastien Le Toux, who placed the one-time shot past Tally Hall to tie the score at one.
We responded well like we have all year, we showed a lot of character, Califf said. We were able to fight back hard.
Yet, even with five players on the back line for the Union, they couldnt seal the leak. Peppering the Union frame with four corners and earning immense possession time, the Dynamos Brian Ching eventually was able to spring Carr through the Union defense and in alone on Faryd Mondragon. With the rear guard recovering frantically, Carr chipped it to the right side, past the keeper for the 2-1 Dynamo advantage in the 30th minute.
We were aware that they were dangerous on set pieces, Williams said. They got one on a set piece and their second goal was a simple through ball.
Forced to open up offensively in the second stanza, the Union replaced Miglioranzi with Jack McInerney and brought on Roger Torres for Justin Mapp, both early in the half. In the 77th minute, Nowak tabbed Freddy Adu to replace Danny Mwanga. The moves resulted in more offensive pressure and a whopping seven corners on the game.
The Union also took 16 shots, 10 of which hit on frame.
Tapping on the doorstep of the equalizer late, McInerney headed a cross from Adu that hit the crossbar and stayed out. It was the closest the Union would come.
The second half was better in finding good possession and finding good openings, Nowak said. We had a lot of chances and had 10 shots on goal. Its a good number but the last piece of the puzzle is to finish them and we should have finished them.
E-mail Ryan Bright at ryanbright13@gmail.com