Playoff hopes hinge on maintaining current momentum

For a team that’s surrendered late leads as often as the Dynamo, the team has had its own moments showing considerable grit.

A comeback victory to win the U.S. Open Cup over Philadelphia may have best exemplified that. But after being honored at City Hall and closing the celebration with a team dinner that night, the Dynamo have refocused on their improbable playoff push.

“Wilmer (Cabrera) challenged us and said, ‘first of all, this club’s never won in Seattle but, at the same time, we’ve never come back from an 0-2 deficit and won 3-2, we’d never won the Open Cup,’ ” defender A.J. DeLaGarza said. “The playoffs are a slim chance and we’re still in it mathematically, so the first thing we have to do is take care of ourselves.”

With four games remaining, the Dynamo (9-13-8, 35 points) are 11 points down from Real Salt Lake, which sits in the sixth and final playoff spot.

Fortunately for the Dynamo, two of the teams above them — including RSL — are on three-game winless streaks, keeping the Dynamo’s window of hope alive for now.

Another, the LA Galaxy, host the Dynamo on Oct. 28 while Monday’s opponent, the fifthplace Seattle Sounders (14-11-5, 47 points), play the Dynamo again in Houston on Oct. 21.

“It’s going to be really hard, but we can only do what we can control,” DeLaGarza said. “We gotta come out and give whatever we have for the rest of the year.”

DeLaGarza’s presence helps. The defender is back after missing the majority of this season with an ACL injury.

Offensively, forward Mauro Manotas remains one of the league’s top scorers. He’s tied for fifth with 15 goals — a team record.

“I feel pretty good,” DeLaGarza said. “I know people think I played one game here and I’m back and my knee is never going to bother me again, but I know there’s a process to it and hopefully I can use this offseason to continue to feel better every day.”

But Seattle has proven to be potent at times throughout this season.

They’ve only lost two of their last 15 matches — a stretch that features a 12-game unbeaten streak. National team players Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay) and Raul Ruidiaz (Peru) pace the team in scoring with eight and seven goals, respectively.

“Obviously, they’re one of the hottest teams in the league,” DeLaGarza said. “They’re obviously above us in the standings right now, so we have to take it and get as many points as we can get.”

Midfielder Juan David Cabezas said the team’s attitude is positive in light of their challenge.

“We said to ourselves, ‘we must do better each game. We need to show better quality, better intensity, (and) all those things we’ve been showing in the last two or three games,’ ” he said. “The most important thing is our attitude (and) our discipline.”