A third of the Major League Soccer season is in the books. The Houston Dynamo have completed 12 of their 34 matches this season and currently sit in third place on 17 points with a record of 5-5-2.

Given some of the struggles the Dynamo have gone through this season, the fact that they are in third place is both remarkable and a reflection of how much parity there is in the Eastern Conference at the moment.

With 12 matches down, our editors – Hal Kaiser and Leopold Ponce – rate how the team has performed so far this season.

POSITIONAL GRADES

Goalkeepers

Hal: Tally Hall remains without question one of the best shot stoppers in MLS. If you look at his 19 goals against this season, you might conclude he is having a down season. In fact, he is having one of his best seasons stopping shots but has been let down far too often by his defense.

Mar 29, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall (1) holds the ball against the Vancouver Whitecaps during the first half at BC Place. The Vancouver Whitecaps won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Where Tally continues to under perform, however, is with getting the ball back in play. Against Los Angeles, the number of punts and goal kicks that went either over the sideline or straight to an opponent was bordering on embarrassing. This is a liability for the team the only thing keeping him from the national team.

Grade: B

Leopold: As Hal stated, Tally Hall is a great goalkeeper. I would be afraid to go against a goalkeeper of his quality. However, his distribution of the ball is horrendous. This is something that will keep him out of the United States National Team. I would go as far as to say that his bad distribution only adds trouble to our defense. He will often times give balls away by sending them out of bounds or on clearance will put the ball into a position our players cannot reach, or will have to try to win a 50/50 battle.

Nobody would argue against his ability to stop shots, and that’s the only reason why he was called up a couple of times by Klinsmann. No goalkeeper should be as lacking in such a basic, yet important skill as he is.

Grade: C+