The 2012 Houston Dynamo season was the seventh season of the team's existence and the first season in their new soccer-specific stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo entered the season as both the defending MLS Cup runners-up and Texas Derby winners. The club also played in the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League.
Houston would finish the season fifth in the Eastern Conference, making a run back to MLS Cup by defeating Chicago Fire in the wild-card round, upsetting top-seeded Sporting Kansas City in the conference semifinals, and seeing off D.C. United in the conference finals. The 2011 runners-up came up short against defending champions LA Galaxy in the final by a 3–1 scoreline. As of 2024, this is the Dynamo's most recent MLS Cup appearance.
Squad information
Club roster As of March 9, 2012.
No.PositionNationPlayer
Player movement
Transfers
In DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubFee/notesRef December 6, 2011 Luiz Camargo MF Paraná Clube Undisclosed December 28, 2011 Nathan Sturgis MF Toronto FC Acquired for a 2014 draft pick February 8, 2012 Macoumba Kandji MF Colorado Rapids Acquired for a 2014 draft pick February 16, 2012 Brian Ching FW Montreal Impact Acquired for a 2013 draft pick June 7, 2012 Oscar Boniek Garcia MF Olimpia Undisclosed August 8, 2012 Ricardo Clark MF Eintracht Frankfurt Free Agent / Undisclosed August 29, 2012 Giles Barnes MF Doncaster Rovers Undisclosed
Out DatePlayerPositionDestination clubFee/notesRef November 23, 2011 Brian Ching FW Montreal Impact Selected in the Expansion Draft December 12, 2011 Hunter Freeman DF Colorado Rapids Selected in the Re-Entry Draft January 20, 2012 Danny Cruz MF D.C. United Traded for allocation money August 8, 2012 Geoff Cameron CB/MF Stoke City F.C. Sold – approximately $2.5 million
SuperDraft Round/PickPlayerPositionCollege1/18Colin RolfeForwardLouisville2/37Warren CreavalleDefenderCentral Florida
Supplemental draft Round/PickPlayerPositionFrom1/7Brian OwnbyForwardVirginia1/18Eder ArreolaMidfielderUCLA4/75Daniel RobertsMidfielderUNC Wilmington
Club staff
Other information
Regular-season standings Eastern Conference
Match results
Preseason Kickoff times are in CDT.2012 Houston Dynamo Preseason Schedule, HoustonDynamo.com, retrieved 23 January 2012
Results summary
Results by rounds
MLS regular season
Kickoff times are in CDT.2012 Houston Dynamo Schedule, HoustonDynamo.com, retrieved 23 January 2012
MLS Cup Playoffs
Kickoff times are in CDT.
Knockout round
Conference semifinals
Conference finals
Championship
U.S. Open Cup
Kickoff times are in CDT.
Champions League
Team Houston Dynamo422093+68 Olimpia412164+25 FAS4103311−83
Exhibitions
Kickoff times are in CDT.
Statistics
Appearances and goals Last updated on October 27, 2012. MLS stats from Houston Dynamo website
Goalkeeper stats {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- | rowspan="2" style="width:1%; text-align:center;"|No. | rowspan="2" style="width:70px; text-align:center;"|Nat. | rowspan="2" style="width:44%; text-align:center;"|Player | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Total | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Major League Soccer |- |MIN |GA |GAA |MIN |GA |GAA |- | style="text-align: right;" |1 | | style="text-align: left;" |Tally Hall |2946 |33 |1.19 |2946 |33 |1.19 |- | style="text-align: right;" |30 | | style="text-align: left;" |Tyler Deric |0 |0 |0.00 |0 |0 |0.00
Italic: denotes player is no longer with team
Top scorers {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=60|Rank !width=60|Nation !width=60|Number !width=150|Name !width=100|Total !width=100|Major League Soccer |- |1 | |12 |Bruin |12 |12 |- |2 | |11 |Davis |8 |8 |- |3 | |25 |Ching |5 |5 |- |4 | |27 |Garcia |4 |4 |- |4 | |3 |Carr |4 |4 |- |4 | |9 |Kandji |4 |4 |- |5 | |31 |Hainault |2 |2 |- |5 | |32 |Boswell |2 |2 |- |5 | |16 |Moffat |2 |2
Uniforms
Type Shirt Shorts Socks Home Orange White Orange Away White Orange White Alternate Orange Orange Orange
Miscellany
Allocation ranking Houston is in the #18 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after going to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.2011 MLS Roster Rules Major League Soccer
International roster spots Houston has 6 MLS International Roster Slots for use in the 2012 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots, which can be traded. Houston has previously dealt one spot to New York on 17 March 2009Red Bull New York Signs Goalkeeper Alec Dufty – OurSports Central – Independent and Minor League Sports News and dealt another spot to New York on 14 January 2005 while the Houston franchise was still based in San Jose.MetroStars Acquire a Portion of an Allocation and Youth International Spot from San Jose Earthquakes – OurSports Central – Independent and Minor League Sports News Press reports did not indicate if or when these roster spots would revert to Houston. On 21 July 2011, Houston traded an international roster spot for the remainder of the 2011 season only to Portland Timbers.
Future draft pick trades Future picks acquired: 2013 MLS SuperDraft Round 1 pick from Portland Timbers; 2014 MLS SuperDraft Round 4 pick from Los Angeles Galaxy.
Future picks traded: 2013 MLS SuperDraft Round 4 pick to Colorado Rapids; 2013 MLS SuperDraft conditional pick to Montreal Impact; 2014 MLS SuperDraft Round 4 pick to Portland Timbers; 2014 MLS SuperDraft conditional pick to Colorado Rapids; 2014 MLS SuperDraft conditional pick to Toronto FC; 2015 MLS SuperDraft Round 4 pick to Columbus Crew.
References