Wednesday MLS: Five Hours In DC

WASHINGTON, DC (July 24, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- Weather once again hampered things at RFK Stadium on Wednesday night, with the DC - Houston game stopped in the 53rd minute and not able to resume for almost three hours.  The game finished after midnight.

"Houston wanted it off," said DC coach Tommy Soehn.  "But we wanted to play so we wanted to wait as long as we could or as long as they'd allow us to."

Houston scored before and after the delay, with Brian Mullan opening in the 20th minute and Brian Ching getting the second hours later in the 79th.  DC's Gonzalo Martinez was shown a second yellow in the 83rd minute. 

"I don't think I've ever been playing at midnight," Ching said. "Crazy, crazy game but glad it's over, glad we got the three points -- we really needed to move up in the standings in the West."

-- Game Report --

Houston Dynamo (5-4-8) vs. D.C. United (7-8-1)
July 22, 2008 -- RFK Stadium

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Brian Mullan 1 (Geoff Cameron 2) 20
HOU -- Brian Ching 7 (Brad Davis 2) 79

Houston: Pat Onstad, Eddie Robinson (Patrick Ianni 41), Craig Waibel, Bobby Boswell, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan, Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 88), Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron, Brian Ching (Nate Jaqua 89), Dwayne De Rosario. Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Brown, Chris Wondolowski, Tony Caig, Mike Chabala

DC: Zach Wells, Bryan Namoff, Marc Burch, Pat Carroll (Rod Dyachenko 25), Gonzalo Martinez, Devon McTavish, Clyde Simms, Fred (Quavas Kirk 86), Craig Thompson (Francis Doe 64), Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno, Substitutes Not Used: Ryan Cordeiro, James Thorpe, Joe Vide, Mike Zaher

Misconduct Summary:
HOU -- Eddie Robinson (caution; Pushing, Holding) 16
DC -- Rod Dyachenko (caution; Pushing, Holding) 46+
DC -- Gonzalo Martinez (caution; Dissent) 54
DC -- Luciano Emilio (caution; Reckless Foul) 57
HOU -- Dwayne De Rosario (caution; Reckless Foul) 63
HOU -- Pat Onstad (caution; Delaying a Restart) 77
DC -- Gonzalo Martinez (ejection; Second Caution) 83

Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee's Assistants: Jason Cullum; James Conlee
4th Official: Jeff Gontarek
Time Of Game: 4:44
Attendance: 14,660
Weather: Partly Cloudy -and- 83 degrees

Game Report courtesy of MLS Communications