new england revolution

MLS Cup Final Report: Houston Repeats As Champions

The Houston Dynamo became just the second MLS team to win back-to-back MLS Cups as they defeated the New England Revolution 2-1.


Houston Dynamo 2 - New England Revolution 1

In what was expected to be a defensive affair, there were plenty of opportunities for both and the two teams put on an impressive show for the 39,859 fans in attendance at RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, DC.

Unlike the 2006 MLS Cup final that was scoreless through regulation and saw Houston win on penalty kicks, the Dyanmo came from behind to win their second straight MLS Cup. In the rematch of last year's final, New England again fell short of their ultimate goal as they lost for the third consecutive time in MLS Cup and fourth in six years.

New England, as they did last year, scored first in this game, though they did not wait until overtime to do so. After 20 minutes of each side feeling each other out, Shalrie Joseph picked out the advancing Steve Ralston who played his first touch poorly. The MLS all-time leader in assists quickly recovered and picked out Taylor Twellman with his cross and Twellman's snap header was buried in the back of the net.

The Revs nearly doubled their minutes later on a spectacular individual effort from Khano Smith. The left-winger intercepted a pass near midfield and beat a pair of defenders on his run into the penalty area. In position to shoot, Smith instead chose to square a pass to Twellman whose one-timer was saved by a diving Pat Onstad

Though Houston had chances and began to possess the ball more in the second half, Ralston nearly had his second assist just before the hour mark as he made another run down the right wing. This time, though, his cross to Pat Noonan was blasted just inches over the crossbar.

Houston found themselves level just one minute later as Joseph Ngwenya finally scored after a flurry of activity in front of the New England goal. Dwayne De Rosario settled a cross that New England was unable to clear and quickly found Ngwenya in front of the goal. The Zimbabwean striker muffed his first attempt, but recovered and beat a diving Matt Reis to the loose ball and toed it into the net.

New England dodged a big blow five minutes later as Smith could have been sent off. After being involved in a challenge with defender Wade Barrett, Smith exchanged words with the Dynamo defender and head butted him merely feet in front of official Alex Prus. The Revolution breathed a collective sigh of relief as the card issued was yellow, and not red.

The Dynamo refused to settle for a draw as they shifted their formation from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2. The extra midfielder paid off in the 74th minute when Brad Davis's cross found De Rosario and the Canadian international headed home the game winning goal.

New England had one last superb chance in the dying minutes off of a corner kick. However, Jeff Larentowicz's header hit Onstad's left leg and the Dynamo defense was able to clear the ball from danger.
The 2007 MLS Cup Final at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. is a rematch of last year's game that Houston won on penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 tie after extra time.

New England is in the MLS Cup Final for the third year in a row and the fourth time in six years. They have lost every single time. The Revolution has a solid midfield pairing of Steve Ralston and Shalrie Joseph that will try and stop Houston's Dwayne DeRosario. There is little doubt that New England also has the best defender in the league in Michael Parkhurst. He has led an excellent defensive squad for New England. New England is not as good defensively as Houston but Parkhurst did win the Defender of the Year award and New England has not allowed a goal in their three playoff games. SBG Global reports that early Soccer betting has the public taking Dynamo on the Road.

MLS Cup Betting Preview
Houston Dynamo vs. New England Revolution
Sunday, 12:00 pm Eastern – ABC<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
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Soccer betting at SBG Global

SBG Line: Houston - ½ +145, New England +½ -175 – Total 2.5 under -135

Three Way Line: Dynamo +145, Revolution +160, Draw +200

As good as the New England midfield pairing of Ralston and Joseph are, Houston's midfield is better. Houston has DeRosario, Brian Mullan, Brad Davis and Richard Mulrooney. The Houston defense is even better than New England's because of their depth. The Dynamo led the league in fewest goals allowed. Goalkeeper Pat Onstad led the league in goals against average and was second in shutouts. Houston will need to shutdown New England in this game because scoring goals could be a problem, especially with Brian Ching questionable with a calf injury. Houston allowed just 23 goals all season, a new MLS record.

New England won earlier this year against Houston 1-0 and the teams also played to a 3-3 draw. Last year in the MLS Cup Final the teams played to a scoreless draw in regulation but each team scored in extra time and Houston won the penalty kick shootout 4-3. All the signs point to another low scoring game again on Sunday. Could it be that New England will finally get the monkey off their back and win the Cup?


Receive up to 95% in Total Bonuses from SBG Global! Kraft's Revolution lose MLS Cup for 4th time; De Rosario 1st with 2 MVPs
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By Howard Fendrich, AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON — Robert Kraft is having more success with his football team than his futbol team.
While Kraft's New England Patriots have won three of the past six Super Bowls and entered Sunday as the NFL's only unbeaten squad, his New England Revolution keep falling just short in Major League Soccer.

For three consecutive seasons, and four of the past six, the Revolution made it all the way to the MLS Cup. They were beaten each time, including Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo.

Kraft was at RFK Stadium on Sunday, wearing a blue Revolution soccer scarf over his suit jacket while he watched the game.

"Just don't let teams hang around," Kraft said as he headed for an exit after the Revolution's latest setback.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Sunday | MVP | Cup | MLS | New England | Major League Soccer | Revolution | Kraft | Houston Dynamo | Steve Ralston
One of his soccer team's stars, Taylor Twellman, spoke softly as he stood in his locker, knowing he was once again so close to clutching the MLS Cup - and once again so far.

The Revolution lost the 2002 and 2005 title games in overtime, and last year's defeat - also against Houston - came in a penalty kick shootout.

"I've absolutely lost every final, every which way you can," Twellman said.

He gave New England a 1-0 lead with a header off Steve Ralston's cross in the 20th minute, scoring for the third consecutive game.

The Revolution took that lead into halftime, stretching their postseason scoreless streak to 315 minutes - the longest since the MLS changed its playoff structure in 2003. But Houston eventually broke through, tying it on Joseph Ngwenya's goal in the 61st minute and going ahead on MLS Cup MVP Dwayne De Rosario's header in the 74th.

"A tale of two halves. We outplayed them the first half, had quality chances," Twellman said. "The second half, we came out, bunkered in, and didn't get the job done."

Like Twellman, Steve Ralston has started all of New England's MLS Cup losses.

"They're all equally disappointing," Ralston said.

---

MVP TIMES 2: Dwayne De Rosario's little son toted around the crystal trophy given to the MVP of the MLS Cup. Didn't Dad want to carry it? Well, he already has.

De Rosario assisted on Houston's tying score, then netted the go-ahead goal himself 13 minutes later, leading the Dynamo to a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution for a second consecutive Major League Soccer championship.

"I score big goals because I have big players around me," De Rosario said.

He came through in the clutch in the 2001 MLS Cup, too, scoring the winning goal in the 96th minute for the San Jose Earthquakes to earn MVP honors then.

De Rosario is the first player to twice be the MVP of the MLS Cup and the first player to score the winning goal in two title games.

He broke Sunday's tie in the 74th minute, rising near the penalty spot to head a cross just inside the right post.

"I've seen some great goals in some big games," Revolution defender Jay Heaps said, "but I thought that was real big."

---

NOW THAT'S AN OLD RECORD: By playing in the MLS Cup, Steve Ralston tied a record so old and obscure that he didn't even know it existed until a few days ago.

The New England midfielder played in his 370th MLS game Sunday, equaling the career record for appearances in a major U.S. soccer league. He tied the record held by Bill McPherson, who played in the American Soccer League that existed from 1921-31.

"I didn't know anything about it," Ralston said. "He played a while ago, that's all I know."

The record was compiled by historians at the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. They considered only three U.S. leagues to be worthy of topflight status: the old ASL, the North American Soccer League (1967-84) and MLS (1996-present).

Ralston is only one of seven players who have been in every season since MLS was launched. He was the league's first rookie of the year in 1996.

Now that he knows about the record, he thinks it's pretty neat.

"It's something I'm proud of," he said. "I've tried to go out and play every game and be relied upon and feel like I can contribute and be wanted."

He assisted on New England's goal Sunday, but Houston went on to win 2-1. Ralston left in the 78th minute after having problems with cramps.

"I don't know what's wrong with my body. ... For some reason, my muscles were locking up out there," Ralston said.

---

AP Sports Writers Joseph White and Brian Trusdell contributed to this report.

The Associated Press
Dwayne De Rosario headed in the difference maker in the 74th minute of action on Sunday as the Houston Dynamo rallied past the New England Revolution to capture their second straight MLS Cup 2-1.



The Dynamo became the first team to repeat as MLS champions since the 1996 and 1997 season when D.C. United won the league's first two titles.



On Sunday it took a comeback to capture number two as the Revolution put the ball in the net on a Taylor Twellman goal in the 20th minute.



That 1-0 lead would hold for the Revolution until the 61st minute of the match when Joseph Ngwenya scored the equalizer to boost the Dynamo's hopes. Just 13 minutes later Houston had a firm grasp on their destiny as De Rosario sent a powerful header past New England's goalkeeper Matt Reis for the lead.



Since relocating from San Jose last year the Dynamos have won the MLS Cup both years playing in Houston. New England Revolution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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New England Revolution

Year founded 1995
League Major League Soccer
Nickname Revolution, Revs
Stadium Gillette Stadium
Foxborough, MA
Coach Steve Nicol, 2002—
Owner Robert Kraft



　
Home colors



　
Away colors


First Game
Tampa Bay Mutiny 3–2 New England Revolution
(Tampa Stadium; April 13, 1996)
Largest Win
New England Revolution 6–1 Colorado Rapids
(Gillette Stadium; September 18, 2004)
Worst Defeat
Chicago Fire 6–0 New England Revolution
(Soldier Field; September 22, 2000)
All-time Top Scorer
Taylor Twellman (91)
Supporter Groups
Midnight Riders, Rev Army
MLS Cup
None
US Open Cup
2007
Supporters' Shield
None
The New England Revolution, nicknamed the Revs, is a professional soccer club based in Foxborough, Massachusetts, that participates in Major League Soccer. Even though the club is based in Foxborough, the club represents all of New England. The club is owned by Robert Kraft, who also owns the New England Patriots of the NFL. The name "Revolution" refers to the New England region's involvement in the American Revolution. The team colors are navy blue and red.


The Revs currently play their home matches at Gillette Stadium. The club played their home games at the adjacent and now-demolished Foxboro Stadium, during the 1996 through 2001 seasons. The Revs hold the distinction of being the only MLS team to have every league game in its history televised [1]. Currently, the games are called by Revolution Director of Communications Brad Feldman and analyst Greg Lalas (former Tampa Bay Mutiny defender and younger brother of Los Angeles Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas).

Contents
1 History
2 Television and radio
3 Honors
4 Current roster
4.1 Unsigned draft picks
5 Notable former players
6 Head coaches
7 Team records
8 Home stadiums
9 General managers
10 Year-by-year
11 Average attendance
12 Goal Song
13 International competition
14 References
15 External links



[edit] History
Until their 3-2 victory over FC Dallas in the 2007 US Open Cup, the Revs had never won a major trophy in MLS in their 13 year history. They were one of three teams in MLS that date back further than 2005 to have not won one of the three major titles in MLS (MLS Cup, US Open Cup, and the MLS Supporter's Shield). They came close five times, reaching the US Open Cup final in 2001 and the MLS Cup finals in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007; coincidentally losing their US Open Cup final, and the MLS Cup in 2002 and 2005, to the Los Angeles Galaxy, and losing the MLS Cup in 2006 and 2007, to the Galaxy's former rival, the relocated Houston Dynamo.

Their 2002 MLS Cup appearance granted them a spot in the 2003 CONCACAF Champions Cup, but lost their first matchup 5:3 on aggregate after playing two games on the road to LD Alajuelense. The Revolution again faced LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica in the home and away 2006 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The "home" game was played February 22, 2006 in Bermuda despite some fans feeling that playing at Gillette Stadium in the adverse conditions of winter in New England could have been advantageous. The Revs failed to advance, as they drew 0–0 in Bermuda and lost 0–1 in Costa Rica.


The current home jerseys
Current away jerseysNew England had the chance to win their first MLS championship, in MLS Cup 2006, against the Houston Dynamo, but ultimately suffered the same fate as their two previous attempts in 2002 and 2005; the Revs, after Taylor Twellman scored in the second overtime, allowed a game-tying header, from Dynamo Brian Ching, that sent the game to penalty kicks, where New England lost, 4-3. The 2007 MLS Cup was a rematch from the previous year, though the result was the same as Houston defeated New England 2-1. It was New England's fourth loss in the MLS Cup in a six year span.[2]

Their main rivals are largely considered to be the New York Red Bulls, although in recent years the Revolution have built rivalries with fellow Eastern Conference teams DC United and Chicago Fire. The club's supporter's clubs are called the Midnight Riders and Rev Army. The name 'Midnight Riders' is in honor of the famous rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes, who announced the departure of British troops from Boston to Concord at the beginning of the American Revolution. The Midnight Riders and Rev Army occupy the north stand of the stadium, which they have nicknamed "The Fort". The Fort is a general admission section and draws its name from the revolutionary theme which runs through the team and independent supporters' associations.[3]


[edit] Television and radio
As of 2007, Revs matches are televised locally primarily on WSBK-TV - with several matches on CSN New England - except for nationally televised matches on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and FOX Soccer Channel. All matches are broadcast on radio by WEEI (AM and FM), but this is a simulcast of the TV feed. Brad Feldman handles play-by-play on both TV and radio with Greg Lalas doing color commentary.