HOUSTON – Griffin Dorsey has played 179 minutes in the Houston Dynamo’s two Leagues Cup matches and has been arguably its best player of the tournament.
The Dynamo right-back, who’s only logged 115 minutes of playing time in the past eight weeks, has seized the opportunity presented to him in Leagues Cup. After a strong performance against Orlando City on Friday, Dorsey followed it up by netting Houston’s second goal against Santos Laguna on Tuesday night.
In the 26th minute, Dorsey received the ball on the right wing, took a couple of dribbles towards the touchline, then cut back inside towards the goal. The former Indiana Hoosier took one more dribble, then shot a left-footed curler that tucked into the back net.
“It’s just one of those situations, you kind of black out and just let the soccer take control,” Dorsey told The Bayoucitian after the game.
Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen has noticed Dorsey’s strong play in the Leagues Cup. When asked after the game to describe Dorsey’s play over the past two games, Olsen let out a pleased sigh before answering.
“I’ve been guilty of not showing him enough faith this year. It’s just nice because you guys don’t see it as much, but you can almost feel his positive energy by not even knowing that he’s an awesome human and a great team guy. A guy everybody roots for, and selfless.” Olsen said.
“On a daily basis, he trains very, very hard. So, for him to lock that position down right now for us is very exciting.”
Griffin expressed his delight after hearing Olsen’s comments, adding that he’s “here to work hard and play as hard as I possibly can, and I think it’s shown.”
With back-to-back stellar performances, Griffin looks set to play more minutes as Houston’s penalty shootout victory over Santos Laguna could place the Dynamo in the next round of Leagues Cup.
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.
[…] Dorsey has been a consistent starter for the Dynamo’s Leagues Cup games. The right-back appreciates having an experienced teammate like Clark supporting him from behind. […]