The Houston Dynamo advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League with a 1-0 win over Salvadoran club Luis Angel Firpo Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo are the only United States team to advance to the elimination stage of the inaugural edition of the tournament.

The quarterfinals will begin in early 2009, with the first legs February 24-26 and the second legs March 17-19. The draw for the elimination stage will be held December 10, and the Dynamo will face one of three group winners: Atlante (Mexico), Marathon (Honduras), or Santos Laguna (Mexico). Houston reached the semifinals of the tournament’s predecessor, the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, in 2007 and 2008.

The Dynamo scored the eventual winner in the 13th minute when Brian Ching headed in a corner kick from Dwayne De Rosario for Ching’s 14th goal of the year in all competitions and his first goal in this year’s Champions League. Ching also wore the captain’s armband for the Dynamo Wednesday, only the second time this season he has led the team as captain. The other occasion came in a 1-0 home win May 31 against the New York Red Bulls, when Ching also scored the game’s only goal.

The game was marred by 29 fouls and included eight yellow cards and two red cards, evenly split between the teams. Houston’s Eddie Robinson will miss the first leg of the quarterfinals after receiving a red card.

Houston midfielder Dwayne De Rosario made his 100th career start for the Dynamo Wednesday night, the fourth player to reach that milestone. Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan, and Pat Onstad are the other Houston players to reach that milestone.

Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell made his club record 43rd start of the season in all competitions, a club record, passing the mark held by Wade Barrett, who made 42 starts last year.

Wednesday’s game was the Dynamo’s 48th competitive match of the season, not counting the pre-season Pan-Pacific Championship. That total is the most in MLS. The Dynamo finished 19-9-20 overall.

CD Luis Angel Firpo vs. Houston Dynamo
CONCACAF Champions League – Group B
November 26, 2008 -- Robertson Stadium
Attendance: 14,142

Goals by Period                 1       2       Tot
CD Luis Angel Firpo     0       0       0
Houston Dynamo          1       0       1

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Brian Ching 1 (Dwayne De Rosario 1) 13

CD Luis Angel Firpo TOTAL SHOTS: 5 (Fernando Leguizamon 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Fernando Leguizamon 2); FOULS: 12 (Manuel Salazar 4); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 1 (Leonardo Pekarnik 1); SAVES: 3 (Juan Jose Gomez 3)

Houston Dynamo TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Dwayne De Rosario 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Dwayne De Rosario 2); FOULS: 27 (Ricardo Clark 4, Brian Mullan 4); OFFSIDES: 1 (Richard Mulrooney 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Dwayne De Rosario 5); SAVES: 5 (Pat Onstad 5)