Dynamo Host St. Louis on Decision Day Holding Fifth Place on 51 Points
Sunday's loss in Portland settled nothing about Houston's seeding - and Saturday settles all of it. The Dynamo come home even with St. Louis CITY SC on 51 points, holding fifth place on tiebreakers and sitting one point off the third seed, with St. Louis itself visiting Shell Energy Stadium for the regular-season finale.
HOUSTON - The Houston Dynamo's regular season comes down to one home match, against the one team level with them in the table. Houston hosts St. Louis CITY SC on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Shell Energy Stadium in the Decision Day finale, with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. CT, the club announced in its post-match report from Portland.
The stakes are in the standings the club itself published: heading into the final match, Houston is even with St. Louis on 51 points, holding the fifth spot in the Western Conference on tiebreakers and sitting just one point off the third seed. A win over the team tied with them would settle the seeding question directly; anything less leaves the Dynamo's final position to results elsewhere.
Houston arrives off Sunday's 3-1 loss at Portland, where David Da Costa scored in the 25th minute, Kristoffer Velde doubled the lead in the 65th, Agustin Bouzat pulled one back in the 71st - his second goal of the season, on Duncan McGuire's first assist of the campaign - and Vincent Janssen headed in the third in the 78th. The night also produced an unexpected debut storyline: goalkeeper Blake Gillingham replaced Jonathan Bond in the starting lineup during warmups and made three saves, including a point-blank stop on Da Costa just before the opening goal.
Saturday's finale doubles as Fan Appreciation Night at Shell Energy Stadium, powered by Shell Energy, with tickets available through Tixr, the club said. The two sides finished their season series with Portland split at one win apiece; the St. Louis match is the last word on where Houston opens the postseason.
