Ching leads champs to Western final

Soccer Betting Lines

11/03/2007 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second straight season, the Houston Dynamo came back from a first leg deficit in the Western semis to advance to the Major League Soccer Western Conference Final.

Last season, the Dynamo fell at Chivas USA, 1-0, in the first leg before topping the California club, 2-0, in the return leg at Robertson Stadium to advance.

This season, after falling behind, 1-0, at FC Dallas in the first leg of the Western Semifinal Series, Houston dug deeper with Carlos Ruiz scoring the first goal in the game to push the Hoops' aggregate-goal lead to 2-0.

But the defending MLS Cup champs came through in the second half and overtime with Dallas down a man, with Brian Ching leading the way with two goals and an assist, to lead Houston to a 4-1 win and help them advance, 4-2, on aggregate.

With the loss, Dallas extends its drought of first-round playoff failures. The club has failed to advance past the conference semifinal series since 1999.

The game started ominously for the visitors, with top defender Clarence Goodson, the lone goalscorer in the first leg, forced to miss the game with a stomach ailment. This came after one of the teams other top defensive players, midfielder Pablo Ricchetti, missed the start because of a hamstring injury suffered in training this week. To top that off, starting goalkeeper Dario Sala tweaked his knee early in the contest and had to be replaced by rookie Ray Burse just 25 minutes in.

Despite all that misfortune, Dallas was able to score the game's first goal just 14 minutes in when veteran defender Bobby Rhine played a long ball into the Houston defensive third. the ball was headed in the box by Hoops striker Kenny Cooper right to fellow striker Ruiz, who fired just under the crossbar, first time, to make it 1-0 and increase the aggregate lead.

That was how the score stayed until the break, and Dallas looked like it was in good shape at the start of the second half until winger Arturo Alvarez lost his cool and kicked Brad Davis in the midsection after the two got tangled out of bounds in the 47th minute.

Referee Baldomero Toledo issued a straight red card, meaning Dallas, already thin in the back, had to play the entire second half down a man.

With that, Houston started pushing for the equalizer, but Burse held strong in goal. His best save occurred when he came out to challenge second-half sub Joseph Ngwenya in the box, knocking the ball out of bounds.

But the Houston pressure relented, with Stuart Holden scoring the first goal of his playoff career just two minutes later.

The goal was almost identical to the Ruiz' tally with Dynamo defender Ryan Cochran played a long ball into the box to Ching, who headed it to the top of the six to Holden for the volley.

The goal tied the score in the game at one, but Dallas still led on aggregate, 2-1.

That was short lived, however, as Ching got his first goal of the game just five minutes later after receiving a perfect through-ball from Dwayne De Rosario in the box. The U.S. international one-timed the shot, beating Burse to make it 2-1.

That was how the score stayed through regulation, forcing the teams to play two 15 minute extra time periods.

Seven minutes into the first extra time period, Ching powered home a deflected ball in the box to give the home side a one-goal lead before a Davis free kick from just outside the box three minutes later was placed perfectly into the top corner of the net to close out the scoring.

The Dynamo outshot Dallas 24-5 in the contest while the two teams combined for 40 fouls and 12 cards in the Texas rivalry match.

Houston will now play the winner of the Kansas city Chivas USA semifinal series in the Western final on Saturday. If Fourth-seeded Kansas City, which currently leads the series 1-0, advances, second-seeded Houston will host the game. If top-seeded Chivas USA advances, the Western Final will be at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.