Union pumped for playoff matchup with Dynamo

It took less than 5 minutes for the Union to get off to the perfect start.

Sheanon Williams directs one of his trademark long throw-ins - which are now met with the clamorous cascade of "BOOM" from the Union faithful - at the 18-yard-box from just below midfield. The toss finds Sebastien Le Toux in the box directly in front of goal. A quick touch to turn himself, Le Toux gets off a shot. His blast smacks the crossbar but lands at the feet of teammate Danny Califf. Instinctively, the stalwart defender slots the ball toward the far post away from the goalkeeper, who can only helplessly watch the white sphere get enveloped in orange netting.

Time of goal/renewed confidence: 4 minutes, 21 seconds in the first half . . . of the regular-season opener.

Against Houston.

The goal eventually led to a win, just the team's third on the road all-time. It also brought a wave of confidence like no other. Palpable on the field and in the locker room, the Union compiled a 6-3-2 record in its first 11 games of the season, which included road victories over Toronto FC (6-2) and Chicago (2-1).

For a time it wasn't all roses: There was a midseason slump complete with questionable starting lineups and a mind boggling inability to capitalize on the simplest of chances, but wrapped in that also was an eight-match unbeaten streak - a flat, lifeless, regular-season finale against Red Bull New York notwithstanding.

Through it all, the aspirations of making the playoffs has come to fruition.

So here we are. Two days from now, the Union will host the same club in which began its dream start. Some players (and coaches) have said that owning Houston (the Union are 2-0-2 all-time against the Dynamo) and opening its playoff campaign at PPL Park - a venue where the Union has lost only four times in its short history - is irrelevant in terms of the playoffs, but psychologically, I mean, really, somewhere beneath the surface of all that coach-speak, it must mean something, right?

"Oh it's huge," Califf said of the domination. "If we can get a good result against these guys I think it'll be massive for confidence. We match up with them pretty well and I think we're confident going in that we are going to do the things it takes to put ourselves in a good spot and in the right position to move on."