the August 16, 2003 game at New England Revolution with a ruptured right Achilles tendon. He underwent surgery on August 19 and missed the rest of the 2003 season as the San Jose Earthquakes went on to win the 2003 MLS Cup. Ching scored a career-high six goals and two assists during 2003. He was named to the MLS Team of the Week for April 12 and May 3, 2003. Ching returned from injury in the 2004 Champions' Cup as a sub in both legs against eventual champion L.D. Alajuelense. Ching made his first start of the season on May 1 vs. D.C. United. Ching finished with a career-high 12 goals in MLS, sharing the MLS Golden Boot with Eddie Johnson. He was named to the MLS Best XI and recognized as the MLS Comeback Player of the Year. He also finished as the Earthquakes scoring champion and Most Valuable Player for the 2004 season. In 2005, Ching scored seven goals in 16 games and tallied a career-high five assists in MLS play. He registered a goal or an assist in five straight games before missing 15 matches with a hamstring injury. He ended the regular season having recorded a goal or assist in six straight games. The San Jose Earthquakes finished the 2005 season with the best regular season record, clinching the Supporters' Shield. After the most successful regular season in team history with an 18-4-10 record and 64 points, the Earthquakes were placed on hiatus on December 15, 2005, with the franchise moving to Houston. Houston Dynamo (2006–2013) Along with the rest of his Earthquakes teammates, Ching moved to Houston for the 2006 season. He scored four goals in Houston's first-ever game on April 2, 2006, against the Colorado Rapids, becoming the seventh player in MLS history to score four goals in a single game. Ching found out he had been selected to U.S. world cup team on May 2 and celebrated with a game-deciding goal the following MLS fixture, May 6, against rival club FC Dallas. Ching missed six MLS games while he was with the U.S. national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. His bicycle kick on September 30 vs. D.C. United, which would later be awarded the MLS Goal of the Year Award, was the deciding goal in a 1–0 win that secured Houston's first ever MLS playoff spot. In the 2006 MLS Cup