Dynamo playing best at perfect time

It was another win that will go down in Dynamo lore. The magical ride and story that the Dynamo continue to carve out in recent weeks gave us another chapter last night as they walked into the "belly of the beast" at Sporting Kansas and produced an emotional 2-0 win that sends the Dynamo to the MLS Cup final against David Beckham and the LA Galaxy. Now this story will not likely take the headlines in Houston but to watch this team morph into a collective, balanced unit has been remarkable. The strength of character in this team blossomed based on a variety of challenges in Kansas City. A missed one on one chance from Calen Carr, the loss of leader Brad Davis to a quadricep injury were all reasons that would have derailed team with lesser character. There are so many reasons one might point to for this magical run: the acquisition of new players like Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo and Carlo Costly and Calen Carr, the move of Geoff Cameron to center-back , the rise of leader Brian Ching, the importance of catalyst Brad Davis. They are a few of many things that can be pointed to. Still one must go right to the top, and the top is Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear who has kept a steady hand, won tactical battles, made personnel moves and has rode through mid-season criticism and has transformed and re-built this squad methodically. When the Dynamo qualified for the playoffs I stated that this team was a "dangerous animal" and that other MLS teams would not want to play them in the playoffs based on the turn-around. The confidence has grown for this squad that is playing with and for each other. The need for a specific goal scorer in the playoffs has been de-bunked as the Dynamo have gotten goals from different sources. Yesterday it was Andre Hainault and Carlo Costly who produced goal-scoring heroics to provide the difference for a team thats collective effort and fight during the final phase of the MLS season and now into the playoffs has been inspiring. In 2006, 2007 when the Dynamo produced back to back MLS Cup titles the character of those teams were remarkable. The competitive nature of the teams never questioned and an air of confidence glowed around them. They were teams filled with mature leaders like Ching, Pat Onstad, Dwayne DeRosario, Craig Waibel and Wade Barrett. New ones like Adam Moffat, Tally Hall and Calen Carr are emerging at just the right time for the Dynamo. With a new stadium set to open next year the Dynamo have through savvy moves, collective spirit and ethic re-claimed momentum. A momentum that could help them win a 3rd MLS Cup in LA on November 20th.