Written by Juan Pereira

Photos by Arun Bangura (@driftordiephotography)

In heartbreaking fashion, Houston Dynamo were eliminated from the playoffs after reaching penalties thanks to a stoppage time own goal by Seattle to tie the match at the end of regulation. 

“It’s a brutal way to end the season, with two penalty shootout losses,” Griffin Dorsey said after the match. “We’ve made some humongous strides over the years that I’ve been here, but we still have a long way to go.” 

Seattle were given an advantage when Dynamo captain Hector Herrera was sent off in the 66th minute after spitting at the referee. For the second time this series, Houston was down to 10 men, a catastrophic turn of events for a team that had stayed relatively controlled throughout the season. 

The Sounders took the lead in the 87th minute thanks to a Cristian Roldan strike that bypassed the Dynamo defense. It seemed like the season would end in regulation. However, as we’ve seen so many times from this Houston team, they’ll never stop fighting until the final whistle. 

Houston’s equalizer came after Dorsey crossed the ball into the box which hit one of the Seattle defenders. The deflection found its way to the back of the net, and Shell Energy Stadium went into a ruckus unlike any other seen in recent history. 

However, the dream of a game three withered away after Steve Clark failed to save a single penalty out of the seven opportunities he had. Tate Schmitt was dealt the unfortunate card and had his attempt saved by Stefan Frei. 

“It was not a great season because you hold trophies at the end of those, but it was a good season,” Ben Olsen said. “Whether it was breaking the points record, the away wins record or making the playoffs twice in a row for the first time in a while, there are a lot of good takeaways.” 

As the Dynamo enter the offseason, there remains a sense that we didn’t see the peak of this team. What if Coco Carrasquilla and Hector Herrera weren’t sent off? What if Steve Clark saved just one penalty in this series? What if Ponce was able to find the back of the net? 

We’ll never know, but what we do know is that this team broke records, and if everything goes to plan, we’ll probably see them again in the postseason. 

Here’s to 2025.