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Toros Head Coach Cabrera to Lead Dynamo

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 10/28/16, 3:35PM EDT

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Colombia native led RGV to second place in USL Western Conference in first season


Photo courtesy Rio Grande Valley FC

Rio Grande Valley FC Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera was introduced on Friday as the new Head Coach of the Houston Dynamo. Cabrera, who previously held a head coaching position in Major League Soccer with Chivas USA, had led the Toros – who hold a partnership with the Dynamo – to a second-place finish in the USL’s Western Conference in the club’s inaugural season this year.

“I am excited to join the Houston Dynamo. It’s a great club with a great history, and I am ready for the challenge,” Cabrera said inb a club statement. “I look forward to working with the ownership group, management, our staff and the players to return the Dynamo to the level that the club and our fans deserve and expect.”

A former player in the USL with the Long Island Rough Riders, the Colombian coached the U.S. U17 National Team before serving as an assistant coach with the Colorado Rapids in 2012. Two years later he presided over Chivas USA’s final season in MLS, following which he was appointed as the first Head Coach in the Toros’ history.

Cabrera brought outstanding success to the club’s inaugural season in South Texas, as the Toros set a USL record with a 758-minute shutout streak that helped RGVFC power up the Western Conference standings. The Toros led the Western Conference in the lowest goals-against total and finished second in goals scored as five different players recorded at least six goals, and four players recorded at least three assists.

The Toros also saw captain Kevin Garcia make the transition to the Dynamo, as the defender signed with the MLS side on September 6. RGVFC’s inaugural season came to an end in the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2016 USL Cup Playoffs in a 3-2 defeat to OKC Energy FC.

“We’re nothing but fortunate, happy, blessed that we were able to open the franchise and say that in the history of the Toros we had Wilmer Cabrera as our Head Coach,” said Rio Grande Valley FC President Bert Garcia. “It speaks volumes about the product that Wilmer and the Houston Dynamo put out there, and it’s amazing that the Dynamo are able to hire from within, from the team they established themselves.”

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