Houston Dynamo embrace pressure vs. RSL: “We have to take advantage of this” | MLSSoccer.com

Now, they’ll put that big-game mettle to the test Saturday evening when hosting Real Salt Lake for Match 3 of their Round One Best-of-3 series (6 pm ET | #HoldItDown

— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) November 7, 2023

Houston largely weren’t pegged as a trophy contender this year, last making the postseason in 2017. But they brought in 17 players for Olsen’s first season, resulting in their Héctor Herrera-led rise to the West’s No. 4 seed and 51 points (14W-11L-9D record).

“How enjoyable this process has been in working with [general manager] Pat [Onstad] and [technical director] Asher [Mendelsohn] and the group jelling off the field, some of the camaraderie and the culture-building part, maybe that’s been sped up a little bit more than I thought it would be,” said the former D.C. United player and head coach.

“That’s been great. That part I’m really happy about and I’ve enjoyed the year and just like the players, I don’t want it to end. I want to push this thing.”

Now, Houston have heightened expectations and are focused on maximizing this opportunity. But it won’t be easy against RSL, who posted a West-leading eight road wins this season and have striker Cristian Arango back from a hamstring injury.

“We’ve said it over the last couple of months: We have to take advantage of this,” Olsen said. “We want to stay in this thing. We want to enjoy each other’s company more, and that means we have to advance this weekend.

“I think the expectations of our team now overall are greater than maybe I thought they would be in this moment. I love that we’re getting critiqued for tying an away game at Salt Lake. That means we’re moving in the right direction. We won, then tied away and are here for a third game at home, and the expectations are probably that we should win this game, because we’re at home. So that’s great, that’s what we’ve signed on for and that’s where we want to push this club.”