HOUSTON(AP) -- Joseph Ngwenya scored his first goal of the year to

give the Houston Dynamo a 2-2 tie with the Colorado Rapids on

Saturday night.

Ngwenya tied it at 2 in the 80th minute, taking a centering pass

from Brian Mullan in the middle of the box and scoring into the

right side from 12 yards out.

Houston (5-7-2) ended a three-game losing streak in its return

from a three-week World Cup break. Colorado (6-3-3) extended its

season-high unbeaten streak to five.

"The guys are pleased to get the point. It's tough to come here

with the conditions," said Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who

had three saves.

"We know that. That's not an excuse or anything, but it is very

tough to come down here and play. After being off for two weeks,

the humidity and this heat, grinding it out and getting a point,

I think it's justifiable for us. It keeps our streak alive."

Houston, 4-0-2 overall against Colorado in Houston, hadn't won

since May 22 when it beat D.C. United 2-0.

"The way things are going, it's good that we showed some fight

and walked away with a point," Houston midfielder Corey Ashe

said. "It's a good point and we battled back."

Colorado took a 2-1 lead in the 71st minute on a Houston own

goal off Jaime Smith's corner kick. Smith's corner deflected in

off Lovel Palmer's left hip.

"There are the concerns that you come out of the training

environment, which is very different, back into the cut and

thrust of the league and you are not quite sure where the

players' sharpness and form is because we have had some time

off," Colorado coach Gary Smith said. "It took us 45 minutes to

really get into our stride.

"I have to be honest, when we scored the second, I thought we

might have had enough to push on and win the game."

Danny Cruz gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute with a

left-footed shot from 30 yards out. Cruz took a centering pass

from Corey Ashe and let Conor Casey go by him before finding the

left net with a hard shot.

Casey tied it at 1 in the 45th minute with his third goal in

four games and sixth of the season. Houston's Eddie Robinson

lost the ball to Mehdi Ballouchy, who got it into the middle box

for Casey. Casey drew goalkeeper Pat Onstad out of the box and Casey

chipped it in from 10 yards out.

"That misplay before halftime, we were well in control of the

game and not giving up chances and keeping possession of the

ball really turned the game around and it took us a while to

recover," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said.

After 17 days off because of the World Cup break, Colorado was

pleased to get the result, but both teams lamented their missed

chances.

"It's good to be back," Casey said. "Obviously, it was nice to

have some time off. It was nice to get a point in the end coming

into the heat. It's never easy to play here. After going up,

it's a little disappointing not coming away with three, but I

think it's a fair point."