Six months apart, the Houston Dynamo experienced the lowest and highest points of their 2007 season at RFK Stadium.
After allowing a first half New England goal early Sunday afternoon in Washington, the Dynamo rallied to score twice after halftime, capturing a 2-1 victory and their second consecutive MLS Cup, both at the expense of the Revolution.
“I think it proved how strong of a team we are,” said Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, the game’s most valuable player, who nodded in the game-winning goal in the 74th minute on a perfectly placed cross by teammate Brad Davis. “We nevergive up.”
Back-to-back titles had hardly seemed possible for Houston, which dropped to 2-5-1 after losing on the road to D.C. United in late May, a defeat which prompted an hour-long post-game meeting.
“That was the turning point of our season,” said Davis. “We knew that we were a good team, and we weren’t getting results. We just hashed it all out in the locker room, and from there out … we played the way this team is used to playing.”
Houston went
13-3-6 the remainder of the regular season, and in front of 39,859 on Sunday, it became the second team in league history to win consecutive championships, matching D.C. United in 1996 and ’97.
“This team for the last two years, and even going back to the Supporters’ Shield,” said Kinnear, referring to when the franchise was still in San Jose in 2005, “This is a team that should be talked about for years to come.”
Lack of Revolution
The Revolution, who lost in their third straight MLS Cup, went ahead on Taylor Twellman’s header in the 20th minute, but the Dynamo reaped the rewards after adopting more aggressive formation after halftime, and Joseph Ngwenya made the most of an opportunistic chance in the 61st minute.
“I wish I could put into words how tough it feels,” said Revolution defender Jay Heaps. “It’s the nature of the game, we fought hard and the problem was we just didn’t take our chances. We’ve been a great defensive team this playoffs, and I think to this point, it’s disappointing we let in a scrappy goal. A great goal, you tip your hat, but a scrappy goal. We felt like we defended scrappy goals all year, and to let one in is a little disheartening.”
