Win ices playoffs, spotless record at home

Trying to make Major League Soccer history and nail down another playoff berth, the Dynamo accomplished both Saturday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Boniek Garcia bent a shot past Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath in the 71stminute, giving the Dynamo the lead on their way to a 3- 1 victory to become just the fourth team in MLS history to finish a season unbeaten at home.

Now the two- time MLS Cup champions and three- time finalists are headed back to the playoffs for the second year in a row and sixth time in seven years.

“Qualifying for the playoffs was the No. 1 objective,” said Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear, who also led the 2005 San Jose Earthquakes to an unbeaten home record. “We did that. To go through the season unbeaten at home is a pretty remarkable achievement for the guys.”

Just four minutes after he came off the bench and with the score tied at 1, Dynamo all- time leading scorer Brian Ching took the ball at midfield and broke free. As he neared

the 18- yard box, Ching passed to Garcia on his left.

Garcia took care of the rest to break the tie.

“That counterattack was very good,” Garcia said. “Brian Ching had two options, and he passed it to me. I just tried to put it in at the left post.”

Midfielder Brad Davis did his part by converting a penalty kick in the 74th minute to make it 3- 1. A few minutes later at RFK Stadium, D. C. United scored the winning goal to beat Columbus 3- 2.

“When ( Garcia) scored, I really felt that if we were smart in what we were doing defensively that we were going to win that game,” Davis said. “The guys did a great job.”

With a game to play, the Dynamo are fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the New York Red Bulls and three behind Chicago. They can finish third if they win Saturday at Colorado and get help in two other matches.

The Dynamo, who have a 25- game unbeaten home streak dating to June 2011 at Robertson Stadium, join the 2005 Earthquakes, 2010 Real Salt Lake and 2011 Los Angeles Galaxy as the only teams in league history to

Dynamo 3, Union 1 go unbeaten at home.

“Not a lot of teams can say they were unbeaten at home,” saidMac Kandji, who gave the Dynamo a 1- 0 lead in the fifth minute. “Especially at the new stadium, we haven’t lost a game here yet. To top it off, we’re in the playoffs now.”

The Union’s Jack McInerney headed the ball past goalkeeper Tally Hall to tie the score at 1 in the 19th minute, but the Dynamo took charge soon after Ching was brought into thematch.

“We worked hard all season to make it to the playoffs,” Kandji said. “That’s what we worked for. Nowwe’re in the