CHIVAS USA Celebrate Victory. Photo Credit: Juan Miranda / Chivas USA)

PRO SOCCER NEWS:  Chivas USA 3-0 win vs. Houston Dynamo

The victory marked the first time that Chivas USA had defeated the Dynamo in league play since August 26, 2006, snapping a 12-game winless streak against Dominic Kinnear's men and extending the Goats' unbeaten streak in league play to five straight.  Southern California soccer is hot this summer.

Chivas USA are hot and are on track with another strong soccer win, defeating the Houston Dynamo 3-0 this Saturday evening. With more than  11,000 cheering fans at the Home Depot Center, .forward Justin Braun scored his second Hat-Trick of the season and extends the Goats’ unbeaten run to five.

More importantly giving the Red and White 3 very necessary and deserving points as they embark on a marathon-like five game road trip that will be crucial to playoff aspirations.

• Forward Justin Braun took over the lead as Chivas USA’s main goal scorer with a Hat-Trick Saturday evening, putting him ahead of All Star Nick LaBrocca by 1 with a total of 7. His first score of the evening came in the 31^st minute of the match with an assist from Ante Jazic fresh off the injured list. It only took Braun nine minutes before he’d drop a second bomb on the Dynamo assisted by Blair Gavin in the 40^th minute, which gave the Goats a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

• In the second half Houston tried to counter but the Red and White weren’t having it and was determined to snap a winless streak versus the Dynamo that dated back to August of 2006. Justin did his part by adding the third goal of the match in the 86^th minute, assisted by Francisco “Panchito” Mendoza who had just checked in at the 78^th minute and Ante Jazic once again. 

• Mendoza ties Chivas USA appearance record. By substituting Jorge Flores in the ’78 minute, Francisco ‘Panchito’ Mendoza has now played in 123 games for Chivas USA, tying Jonathan Bornstein’s record and needing only one more cap to surpass and become the all time leader.  

• The Goats’ record now 6-7-8 with 26 points, gives them sole possession of sixth place in the Western Conference. Next up for the Goats they’ll travel to the lone star state and measure up against second place FC Dallas on Sunday, July 31, 2011 at Pizza Hut Park. 

THE WORD FROM THE TEAMS:

• CHIVAS USA - Head Coach Robin Fraser

On game: We’re very excited, not only because of the result but the way we were able to play tonight. I thought that once we started connecting a bit at midfield in the first half then, I think you can see our confidence grow. As we started to get a little bit more confident, we gained more and more possession and we were able to turn those possessions into decent chances.

At the end of the day, some of the goals were really good in terms of good service, great runs by Justin and very good finishing. For us it was a good night, and more so than just winning, we were able to play with confidence, which is something we’ve talked about in this team, and when we do play with confidence, we are a decent team.

• CHIVAS USA – Forward Justin Braun

On the hat-trick: It’s nice to have gotten another hat-trick, but the most important thing is that the team came out and played well collectively and got the three points, which is what we needed.

• HOUSTON DYNAMO - Head Coach Dominic Kinnear

What went wrong: “We got scored on. The first goal took the wind out of our sails and we didn’t play well after that… We didn’t play good.  I’m not going to mistake any excuses…  When you don’t play good you lose more games than you win, so we deserve what we got.”

How to bounce back: “Try and forget this as soon as possible, but realize the mistakes that we made. [We need to] understand that we have a good team in Seattle coming to our place and we have to be ready to play them.”

On the suspensions of Brian Ching and Colin Clark: “You want to have your squad available, it’s a tough season.  So when guys are not here for any reason it’s tough.  When they’re not here because of suspension, it sticks out.”

• HOUSTON DYNAMO - Defender André Hainault

What went wrong after early success: “Just not playing simple, giving away the ball.  Then they finished the chances they had, and we don’t help ourselves, we don’t learn from that and play simple after that. We made the same mistakes and then it’s another goal- two shots, two goals… We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot tonight, so [it’s] frustrating.”

What was said at halftime: “You try to learn from the mistakes that were made, play the ball forward, play simple.  Just settle down, give it a go.  We knew if we got one goal we could get two.  But we didn’t help ourselves, then we got a red card; stupid mistakes.”

What to take from the match: “You can always learn from your mistakes.  Right now we’re not thinking like that, it’s just frustrating.  We’re licking our wounds a little bit.  But we need to get back to work this week, look at some video and figure things out, because it’s not good enough tonight.”

Chivas USA (6-7-8) vs Houston Dynamo (5-7-9) July 23, 2011- The Home Depot Center

Scoring Summary:
CHV -- Justin Braun 5 (Ante Jazic 4) 31
CHV -- Justin Braun 6 (Blair Gavin 2) 40
CHV -- Justin Braun 7 (Ante Jazic 5, Francisco Mendoza 2) 86

Misconduct Summary:
HOU -- Je-Vaughn Watson (caution; Tactical Foul) 43
HOU -- Je-Vaughn Watson (caution; Reckless Foul) 70
HOU -- Je-Vaughn Watson (ejection; Second Caution) 70
CHV -- Justin Braun (caution; Reckless Tackle) 81

Lineups:

Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Kofi Sarkodie (Alex Dixon 72), Jermaine Taylor, Andre Hainault, Corey Ashe, Danny Cruz (Adam Moffat 67), Geoff Cameron, Je-Vaughn Watson, Brad Davis, Cam Weaver, Will Bruin.
Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Boswell, Hunter Freeman, Jason Garey, Eddie Robinson, Tyler Deric.

Chivas USA -- Dan Kennedy, Zarek Valentin, Michael Umana, Heath Pearce, Ante Jazic, Michael Lahoud, Simon Elliott, Blair Gavin (Paulo Nagamura 80), Jorge Flores (Francisco Mendoza 72), Justin Braun (Chris Cortez 87), Nick LaBrocca.
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Boyens, Marcos Mondaini, Mariano Trujillo, Zach Thornton.

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
Referee's Assistants: Ian Anderson; Jason Cullum
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 11,013
Time of Game: 1:48
Weather: Clear and 70 degrees