Brooklyn Raines, Andrew Tarbell shine as Houston Dynamo overcome Tampa Bay Rowdies

Brooklyn Raines scored his first senior goal and Andrew Tarbell secured the shutout as the Houston Dynamo kicked off its 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla.

With a bye week in MLS this week, the Houston Dynamo took plenty of its stars on the traveling squad and used a lineup relatively close to what it has used in league play. The lone goal of the match came a few moments before the stroke of halftime as Corey Baird provided his third assist in all competitions on the pass to the incoming Raines.

"I remember Sebas [Ferreira] getting the ball on the far left," Raines said recalling the goal. "I remember him playing a pass to Corey Baird on the right wing. I saw a little bit of space for me to run into and, me and Corey kind of had the eye contact. I ran past the defender, he slipped it to me with my left and just hit it with my right."

The goal marks an inaugural first-team goal for the 18-year-old and it comes in the same competition that saw him make his Dynamo debut last year. Andrew Tarbell made his first team appearance after joining the team over the offseason and was influential in denying the home team any chance of a "cupset."

The Dynamo will host Sporting Kansas City in the Round of 32 on May 10. The team has over a week's rest for its next match, an MLS home match versus Real Salt Lake on May 6.

Here are a few takeaways from observations on the ground in Tampa Bay:

Brooklyn's first goal

The development of Brooklyn Raines continues with the player's first goal with the senior team and a game-winner at that. After being acquired from the Barcelona Residency Academy in Arizona last year, Raines is arguably the most exciting young prospect the club has seen, and, little by little, he's showing it with his quality.

"I think I've grown a lot," Raines said. "All the staff have been very supportive of my development and the players as well like Artur, and Hector [Herrera] and Coco [Carrasquilla], always motivating me to do my best. And whenever I step on the field, I know that they're always with me and that I'm growing every day. 'Every day,' that's what Coach Ben says, every day I step on the field, 'it's just growth' so very, very thankful for them.

"One of the things I've kind of developed in is not being afraid when I get the ball, he added. "Especially since I'm a midfielder, I'm going to be in a condensed in close spaces and one of the things [Coach Olsen has] been telling me is one touch, two touch, always checking my shoulder, making sure that I'm ready. Little things like a second ball is just be ready because these guys are a lot bigger than me. But, also, I have to be mentally quicker than them."

Raines made his fourth start with the team in all competitions next to captain Hector Herrera and newcomer Luis Caicedo. After scoring in the first half, he was subbed off at halftime along with Herrera in the first wave of modifications from head coach Ben Olsen.

The player got his first team opportunity in the Open Cup last year as he was ineligible to play in MLS for the better part of the year. With his Homegrown status solidified, he has been selected for five league matches, three starts, and 192 minutes this year.

"He's growing and we're moving him around," said Olsen. "These are growth moments for him and it's important for him to be in this type of atmosphere. To be away in an Open Cup game and be away in New York and these are all good experiences for him. Now I want more from him. He's getting that experience, but now I want more from his performances themselves, to show that he can stay on the field for 90 minutes and start to make my life difficult to keep him off the field, and that's kind of his next challenge next.

"He's a mature kid," Olsen added. "Tactically his IQ is pretty high and his technical ability is a very, very high level. And he's got a real willingness to work his tail off. There's a lot of foundational things that are really good with Brooklyn, and now we just got to figure out how to develop him at the right pace, and part of that development is getting him in these games. He's a lovely kid. I think he could actually be a little bit meaner. Maybe that's part of his development, too. I got to get some of that niceness out of them a little bit."

Tarbell, Gasper debut

The starting XI featured usual starters mixed with a few players that hadn't been playing as regularly. Andrew Tarbell got his first start as the goalkeeper. The back four featured Daniel Steres, Ethan Bartlow and Teenage Hadebe, all repeating from last Saturday's starting XI, with a debuting Chase Gasper at left back.

"I thought Chase grew into the game," said Olsen. "That was his first minutes in a while. He's been on the shelf in LA for a bit so you could see him, each minute, get a little bit more comfortable with what we were doing out there and his connections to the backline, and how he now gives us some attack, getting some service in."

Herrera, Raines and Caicedo featured in midfield with the front three composed of Amine Bassi, Sebastian Ferreira and Corey Baird. Adalberto Carrasquilla, Artur, Franco Escobar, Ivan Franco, and Griffin Dorsey came off the bench later in the second half to secure the victory.

Tarbell had a few notable stops in the waning minutes to deny Tampa Bay any hope of a late equalizer and extra time. After the match, he gave credit to Raines for the game-winning goal and clarified that competition for the starting position is "not up to me." 

"I didn't think I had much to do, probably could have had a little bit better kicking, " Tarbell said after the match. "I was just happy to help the team any way. These games are tough. Everyone grinded, everyone put in a shift today, so it was a good win."

Baird exits as a precaution

Corey Baird was subbed off in the 76th minute. No official update was available as far as any injury status and the player declined to speak on his condition after the match.

"We'll take a look at what the extent of that is," Olsen said on the player's status. "But definitely came out for precautionary reasons. I don't think they diagnosed him with anything on the field necessarily. We got some docs in there checking them out, but he'll be okay."

Starting in the central forward position for the past six league matches, the player featured out wide for this encounter. The Dynamo's next match is not for another ten days and the injury report for that match will be posted next Thursday.

The Herrera Tour hits Tampa Bay

As is customary with any starting player, away fans in those cities tend to flock to the match for photos and autographs. That was definitely the case with Mexico men's national team midfielder Hector Herrera.

The home crowd definitely knew who he was, with one fan chanting "dos a cero" after a missed free-kick attempt, but there were a few Mexico jerseys among the Tampa green-and-yellow jerseys in the stands. 

As the player made his way to be a bench for the start of the second half, fans came down near the sideline for photos. This was happening as the game was being played in the second half.

It was a small crowd with a reported 1,956 attendance. Those that did buy a ticket to the game, and maybe even watched from outside the fence at Al Lang Stadium, were rewarded with autographs and a few words with the three-time FIFA World Cup participant.

Cupset avoided

Based on the roster, Houston Dynamo should have taken the win and they did — not a given for all MLS teams, given Atlanta's loss and Seattle's scare. 

The game was very similar to the home victories that the club has had with a solid defensive output. The rotation of players and Tampa Bay's motivation to play perhaps the biggest game of their season are just some factors that played into this being a close encounter than it was.

"Just advancing," Olsen said as his key takeaway. "That's about it. Not a great performance. Not many good individual performances, but it's nice to advance and move on. Give them a lot of credit. They brought a lot of energy. We certainly expected that from the home team. They let us off the hook a few times in front of goal. We certainly didn't do ourselves any favors on the other end and finish the game out of transition or transition moments. Offensively, we were very, very poor. We didn't see out the game well. We had chances to make this easier than it was and again, give them a lot of credit. They threw some big boys and a lot of offensive players towards the end there and made it really interesting."

For the away side, there were some welcoming Orange jerseys in the stands. A pair of Dynamo fans were near the team bench while a handful were on the other side of the field, including members Brooklyn Raines family.

"I actually could hear my grandfather screaming from the stands when I scored," said Raines. "I was running back to half field, so just to have them support me every day. It's just amazing."

It was a good night for Houston teams in Tampa. The Astros also played to a 1-0 field less than two miles away over at Tropicana Field as they concluded their series with the Tampa Bay Rays, coincidentally, owners of the Rowdies.