Since the December 2013 trade sent David Horst from the Portland Timbers to the Houston Dynamo, the sturdy center back has appeared in 77 regular season games, all but six during his three seasons with the club. A 93 percent appearance rate seems apropos for a longtime starter, expensive import or blue chip prospect, but “pleasant surprise” is probably more applicable for Horst and the Dynamo.

Horst was raised in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, a town with a population of 2,158 in Schuylkill County, halfway between Allentown and Harrisburg. Football, wrestling or even hockey were easier avenues for youthful exuberance, but David’s parents, Linda and Robert, steered their children clear of football because of its violence.

Linda Horst collected small donations from locals and started a soccer club – the Pine Grove Area Youth Soccer Association – to give her two sons and daughter a chance in the beautiful game.

Horst earned a soccer scholarship at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia and became PDL Defender of the Year the summer before his senior season in 2007. He was the No. 14 overall pick by Real Salt Lake in 2008, the first ODU player selected in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft, an area of the draft often reserved for youth national team players or younger prospects.

“I agree that I have proven people wrong after what they said about me,” Horst said. “It’s been great because I’ve experienced the highs and the lows of a professional career. I think that’s made me a more well-rounded person off of the field. It has shown me a lot about myself. Houston has been the light at the end of the tunnel with my playing career.”

Horst is blessed with size – 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds – and athleticism that made him as MLS-ready as rookies come. But Horst was stuck behind seasoned veterans Nat Borchers and Jamison Olave at Real Salt Lake.

He spent parts of 2009 on loan with Austin Aztex in the USL and then joined Puerto Rico Islanders on loan a year later and helped win the USL title. He played in the 2010 CONCACAF Champions League and caught the eye of Dynamo assistant coach John Spencer, who would soon be named the head coach of the Portland Timbers as they joined MLS in 2011. Spencer picked Horst in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft and he made 16 appearances in the 2011 season, finally breaking through in his fourth MLS season.

“I’m not a prototypical center back that people knew about growing up. I went to a smaller soccer school and did really well there and stayed all four years. I didn’t play much when I first came into the league and went on loan and I feel like [that’s when] I first really earned my spot.”

Just as playing time became more routine, so did injuries. Horst had six surgeries in four years: two meniscus operations on his right knee, one meniscus procedure on his left knee, a torn labrum in his left hip, surgery to repair a sports hernia, and an operation following a tibia fracture in his right leg suffered against the Dynamo in April 2013.

Injury-free since his trade to the Dynamo that December, Horst has battled for playing time under three head coaches. He set a career-high with 31 starts under Dominic Kinnear in 2014, was picked by Owen Coyle for 32 appearances last season and started every game so far under interim head coach Wade Barrett after Coyle left the club on May 25.

“When I came into Salt Lake, they brought in Jamison Olave, who was in front of me my entire time there [and won 2009 MLS Defender of the Year]. What I’ve learned is you have to keep working hard. You can never give up and give in, and that’s what I’ve done. I work hard, I keep a good attitude even when I’m not playing, and every coach I’ve had has played me for those reasons. It’s not just about raw talent, it’s also intangibles, and I think I bring those to the field.”

Now 30, and newly married after a December wedding, Horst is now a seasoned veteran in MLS.

“I think I’m a lot different as a player on and off the field (now). I had a lot of injuries in Portland and here in Houston I’ve learned how to take care of myself off the field and things to do to keep myself healthy.”

Horst has shared center back partnerships this season with Spaniards Raúl Rodríguez and Agus Garcia. Rodríguez spent four and a half seasons in Spain’s La Liga with Espanyol. Agus was once bought by Real Madrid and went to a FIFA Under-20 World Cup with Spain.

“In the last year and a half I’ve learned a lot from Raúl. He has played at the highest level in Spain and [has taught me keys to] holding the line in certain areas, and when to drop, and killing space on crosses. I think Raúl has done a great job teaching me a lot of nuances of the game that I didn’t know before. Agus is a left-footed, smart player. We are mixing and matching when we need to and I think that we’ve had pretty good success as partners this year. Both of those guys has played at a high level, so anything I can learn from those guys, I’ll listen.”

Horst has set a career-high with two goals this season, both headers from set pieces. The defender also has five shots on goal, another career-high with 20 game left in the season.

“I’m understanding how to get myself open better [on set pieces]. We’ve had fantastic delivery, and that’s helped me to know where to attack in the box. I’ve always had a lot of chances on set pieces in my career – they would just never go in. Finally, I’ve gotten a few to go in this year and it’s given me more confidence every time I go in the box.”

Nine years after leaving Old Dominion as the two-time Colonial Athletic Association Defender of the Year, Horst took his last exam this spring, completing the online portion of his degree in Civil Engineering with a focus in construction management. His last assignment is a job shadow with a local construction company this summer.

“I will job shadow a project manager and will work for a local company [Doffing Construction Services] currently renovating NRG Stadium. I will shadow them and do research on the project. Once a week I’ll go to the job site, take pictures, take notes and learn about the profession and at the end of the summer I’ll do a huge report on it. Come the first week of August, I will officially be a college graduate.”