The team was renamed from Houston 1836 to the Dynamo prior to starting the season after objections from the area's Hispanic communities over its reference to the year 1836, which marked both the city's founding and Texas's independence from Mexico. The Dynamo lost only three of their first eighteen matches, including a ten-match unbeaten streak that lasted from May to late July, and only trailed in-state rivals FC Dallas in the Western Conference standings. Prior to the unbeaten run, Houston were without starting forward Brian Ching, who was called up to the U.S. national team at the World Cup and missed six league matches. He later missed five more matches due to knee surgery in August, leaving the team without their top goalscorer as it lost against several Western Conference rivals.