HOUSTON – The Houston Dynamo enter their third match of the season as one of three MLS teams with zero points. For the Bayou City club, it’s the first time in history the team is pointless going into its third match.
Ben Olense, the first-year Dynamo head coach, was asked during a media press conference if Saturday’s game against in-state rival Austin FC, Houston’s home opener, was a must-win, or at the very least, a match the team has to get points from.
Olsen smiled.
“Or what? Or else I’ll lose some sleep. Yeah, that’s kind of being a head coach,” Olsen said. “We want to win. We’re at home, we want to reward our fans. We’re 0-2. Of course, we want to win a game.”
Dynamo midfielder Artur shared Olsen’s enthusiasm calling Saturday’s game an important game in the season.
“It’s good for us to start to build more confidence about the way that we play,” Artur said. “It’s a very, very important game for us.”
Shell Stadium Unveiling
Saturday’s game will be the first time the Dynamo take the field in the refurbished Shell Stadium. Stadium upgrades include expanded premium areas, electric vehicle charging stations, and mesh seats.
The stadium’s food offerings have been elevated as ten local restaurants will make their debut at the home opener on March 18. Hugo Ortega, the world-renowned chef, curated the local offerings.
Fans can expect to see local favorites like Taqueria Arandas, Trill Burgers, Roostar Vietnamese Grill, and Urbe, to name a few.
Home openers always carry that extra something special. In a 34-game season, the first game at home carries momentum, and Olsen feels it.
“The excitement level of coming home, in front of our fans at a refurbished stadium, that looks great, by the way,” Olsen said.
“I took a look at it. The stadium looks great. Our hope is to reward our fans and ourselves for some of the hard work that we’ve put up until this point with a win.”
Facing Austin FC
Houston has had two weeks to prepare for its home opener, having a bye week in the third week of the season. For Austin FC, it will be its fourth match in 12 days, having taken part in CONCACAF Champions League mid-week play.
Despite the extra preparation time, Olsen stated the team struck a good balance in training.
“Austin’s a very good team, and you can almost overprepare sometimes for a team,” Olsen said.
“We think we struck a good balance of working on ourselves but also making sure we understand who they are in and out of possession and what makes them tick.”
Houston plans to be on the front foot on Saturday. Olsen admitted as much. And with a tired Austin FC, three points could be in Houston’s future. But beyond the win, it could be the start of the Dynamo being labeled hard to beat at home once again.
In 2017, the last time Houston made the playoffs, the Dynamo won 12 home games, losing only once. Since then, the most games the Dynamo have won at home in the past five seasons is eight.
“Protecting our home-field advantage is something that we have not done a great job with over the last few years. To me, it’s a recipe for getting into the playoffs,” Olsen said.
“If you take care of your home games, you should be in a good spot to play in the postseason. Without that, you have a very, very small chance to do that. So that starts this weekend.”
Jesus Acevedo Jr. is the Editor-in-Chief of The Bayoucitian. He’s an award-winning bilingual journalist from Houston, TX. A graduate of the University of Houston, he has written for the Houston Chronicle, La Voz de Houston, MLSsoccer.com, and ProSoccerUSA.
Before becoming a journalist, Jesus spent his early 20s drumming his way across Houston with two bands — Shortcomings and InsertNameHere. The memories that Jesus made as a musician were the seeds that started the idea for the comedy, Houmans: The Series.