- Diego Luna’s try in the 65th minute forced the game to kick in Houston
- But misses from Luna and Danny Musovski ended RSL’s play-off run prematurely
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Griffin Dorsey scored the decisive goal in a 4-3 shootout victory and the Houston Dynamo advanced to the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday after drawing 1-1 against Real Salt Lake in the rubber match of the first round of the MLS Cup -series.
Houston (15-11-9), the fourth seed in the West, will play No. 8 seed Sporting Kansas City in the conference semifinals. The second-seeded Seattle Sounders host defending champion and No. 3 seed Los Angeles FC in the other semifinal.
Houston took a 1–0 lead into halftime when Corey Baird took a pass from Héctor Herrera and scored in the 28th minute. It was the first career postseason goal for Baird, who spent his first three seasons in the league with Real Salt Lake.
Diego Luna used assists from Bryan Oviedo and Braian Ojeda to score the equalizer for Real Salt Lake in the 65th minute. Both of Luna’s postseason goals came in this series.
Luna and Danny Musovski, who entered in the 90th, failed for Real Salt Lake in the shootout.
Griffin Dorsey scored the winning penalty for Houston Dynamo over Real Salt Lake
RSL’s Diego Luna (second from left) scored the equalizer and forced a penalty shootout
Lucky Dynamo fans will now face Sporting Kansas City in the conference semi-finals
Adalberto Carrasquilla, Thorleifur Úlfarsson and Amine Bassi scored the other shootout goals for the Dynamo.
Steve Clark finished with two saves in regulation play for the Dynamo. Zac MacMath saved four shots in regulation for RSL.
Houton improves to a best 10-1-5 in all competitions since the Leagues Cup break.
Real Salt Lake (14-13-8) finished the season with 11 road wins in all competitions. Only the Los Angeles Galaxy, with 13 in 1998, has more wins away from home in a calendar year.