Battery hosts Houston for third straight year

Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear has always enjoyed his time in the Lowcountry.

Kinnear loves the history of the region, the hospitality of its people and, of course, the area beaches.

One of his favorite places in Charleston is the Three Lions Club Pub at Blackbaud Stadium and its extensive soccer memorabilia collection.

"I love the Three Lions Club, for more than just the obvious reasons," Kinnear said with a chuckle. "It's like going to a soccer museum. I don't know that's there's a better collection of soccer jerseys, balls and memorabilia anywhere in the country."

Kinnear returns to the Lowcountry for the fifth straight year as the Dynamo, of Major League Soccer, faces the Charleston Battery tonight in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup at Blackbaud Stadium.

Kinnear has enjoyed plenty of success at Blackbaud Stadium over the years, winning the Carolina Challenge Cup — the Battery's annual preseason tournament — three straight seasons as the head coach for San Jose (2005) and Houston (2006 and 2007).

"It's been a great place for me and for the teams I've come with," Kinnear said. "Because of scheduling conflicts, we haven't been able to get to Carolina Challenge Cup the last

two seasons, but it's not because we don't like it in Charleston. We love it. The people are so hospitable"

The Battery has been anything but a gracious host the last two times the Dynamo have visited Blackbaud Stadium. Charleston ousted Houston each of the last two years in the U.S. Open Cup.

Stephen Armstrong's penalty kick in the second overtime period gave the Battery a 1-0 victory in 2007 in the third round of the tournament. A year ago, after playing to a scoreless draw, the Battery outlasted the Dynamo in penalty kicks (4-3) to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.

"It's been two very competitive games the last two years in the Open Cup," Kinnear said. "There hasn't been a lot of difference between the two teams. We've come out on the wrong end and, hopefully, we can learn from those games and get a better result this time."

The Battery has already dispatched one MLS team on its way to the quarterfinals — beating CD Chivas USA 3-1 last week. Houston beat Austin, of the USL First Division, 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.

"The Battery has proven over the years that they can get good results against MLS teams," Kinnear said. "Honestly, it shouldn't come as a big surprise anymore that they can compete with MLS teams."

Kinnear said the Dynamo won't have any problems being motivated to play against the Battery.

"If we go out on the field thinking this game is going to be easy, then we're in trouble," Kinnear said. "We'll stress that the Charleston Battery is a good team and is capable of beating us, the last two years speak for themselves.

"The one thing I like about our group is that we're competitive. It doesn't matter if it's during practice, in a U.S. Open Cup game or in an MLS Cup final. We want to win, and that's the attitude you have to have. We've got to come out of the locker room ready to play like we did in Austin."

After a sluggish start to the season, Houston is 7-1-1 in its last nine matches and has the best record in MLS at 9-3-4 (31 points). The Dynamo has allowed just four goals over their last 15 games.

"I think the last month or so we've been playing better," Kinnear said. "I think a lot of times when we score first we're a tough team to break down. We've been a good defensive team of late, and we've been able to finish games, which is a good sign."

Offensively, the Dynamo is led by U.S. national team striker Brian Ching, who has five goals in 10 games. Stuart Holden and Kei Kamara each have four goals.

Both teams played over the weekend, with Houston beating Kansas City (1-0) and the Battery defeating Montreal, 1-0.

"Both teams are going to have that travel day, so there's no advantage," Kinnear said. "I'm expecting it to be a close, defensive, hard-fought match."

Reach Andrew Miller at apmiller@postandcourier.com.