Union blanked, 1-0, by Dynamo

Clinging to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the Union entered last night's game against the Houston Dynamo winless in their last four games, having scored just one goal during that time. Another loss, and the Dynamo would pass them in the standings.

Houston, in front of a sellout crowd PPL Park, shut out the Union, 1-0, to do just that. The Union, now 10-10-9, have to wait until Sept. 27 before they next play, at Sporting Kansas City.

"This has been a tough stretch for us and this night is going to be really difficult to accept," Union manager John Hackworth said after the game. We "put a lot into this game, and it's unfortunate that we're sitting on the bad end of the result."

The Union's best chance to get on the scoreboard came in the 30th minute when midfielder Keon Daniel stepped up for a free kick with an opportunity to give his team its first lead in 36 days.

Daniel sailed the ball over an army of Dynamo defenders guarding the net, past goalkeeper Tally Hall and into the top-left corner of the goal.

But as the sellout crowd at PPL Park burst into a frenzy, the referee's assistant lifted his yellow flag, citing defender Amobi Okogu for offside and nullifying what would have been only the team's second goal in six matches.

After the game, Hackworth said he vehemently disagreed with the call and credited his team with an overall solid performance.

"It was probably one of our best first half of moving the ball and dictating the tempo of the game and creating numerous goal-scoring opportunities," Hackworth said. "I felt like we scored one."

After squandering several scoring opportunities, the Union's defense finally broke in the 63d minute, when Houston midfielder Ricardo Clark headed in a cross from teammate Brad Davis.

Forward Jack McInerney, who subbed in for midfielder Danny Cruz in the 61st minute, had a chance to respond when he received a pass from midfielder Fabinho with room to shoot in front of the goal, but missed wide right of the post.

McInerney, who leads the Union with 10 goals on the season, said the team's inability to score is weighing on the players.

"We're not going to win games if we're not scoring," McInerney said. "We just got to keep our heads up and keep pushing our chances in and eventually they'll fall for us."

With the loss, the Union are now tied with the Chicago Fire for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.