MLS Cup remains Orange’s sole goal
Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear begins each season by outlining his goals on a blackboard.
The message has remained as consistent as the team’s orange jerseys. Win the MLS Cup. The perennial league power has reached two of the last three MLS Cups and the last three Eastern Conference championships, but it has been seven years since the Dynamo lifted their second consecutive MLS Cup in 2007.
All but one of the starters return from the Dynamo squad that was eliminated by eventual MLS Cup champion Sporting Kansas City in the 2013 Eastern Conference title match. Considering the franchise has reached four MLS Cup finals and the playoffs in all but one year since its inaugural 2006 season, Kinnear’s club is one of the most respected in the league.
Nonetheless, the Dynamo judge seasons by trophies, and they kick off a new one by hosting New England on Saturday night.
“It’s an organization that wants to win and has a very good track record, especially in the playoffs,” said All-Star left back Corey Ashe, one of three players remaining from the Dynamo’s 2007 MLS Cup champion. “We hold ourselves to high standards. The No. 1 goal each year is to win the whole thing. Anything short of that is disappointing.”
Kinnear cringes at the mention of the Dynamo having the seven-year itch. Even club icon Brian Ching, who retired after the 2013 season, wondered if it’s a “bit negative” to point out the club hasn’t won a title since 2007.
“We’ve been close,” Kinnear said. “We’ve been very close.”
Few teams in MLS have been closer to a title than the