The New England Revolution became the first MLS team to earn the title of SuperLiga champion on Tuesday night, as the Revs claimed the 2008 crown by defeating league rival Houston Dynamo, 6-5, in a penalty shootout after 90 minutes of regulation and two periods of extra time finished tied at 2-2.
The title was the Revolution's second in club history and its second in the past two years, as New England claimed its first cup championship in the 2007 U.S. Open Cup.
Nate Jaqua and Kei Kamara gave Houston the lead on two separate occasions - once in regulation and once in extra time - but Steve Ralston and Shalrie Joseph scored equalizers for New England on both occasions, ultimately sending the match to the penalty shootout.
The teams were unable to decide a winner until the eighth round of the shootout, when Revs defender Chris Albright buried his penalty right down the middle and Dynamo midfielder Corey Ashe hit the crossbar with his effort, handing the Revolution the title.
After a host of narrow misses by both sides early in the match, the Dynamo finally made the Revs pay for a defensive miscue in the 18th minute to take the lead. New England's Amaechi Igwe, who was filling in as a central defender in the absence of Jay Heaps and Michael Parkhurst, failed to properly clear a long Dwayne De Rosario free kick, and the ball fell to Jaqua near the top of the box. The 26-year-old used his first touch to strike a low shot past Reis.
The visitors almost doubled their lead just one minute later after another breakdown in the Revs' defense, but Brian Ching's looping shot hit the left post.
The Dynamo almost scored twice more during a hectic two-minute stretch late in the first half, but Albright and Chris Tierney cleared shots by De Rosario and Jaqua off the line, respectively.
The Revs rounded out an action-packed first half by leveling the score at 1-1 in the 41st minute through Ralston. Mauricio Castro received a pass from forward Kenny Mansally on the left wing and cut back towards the middle, then sent a perfectly weighted, lofted cross to the back post. The ball bounced once before Ralston ran onto it and struck a driven volley into the far side netting, just inside the post.
With chances limited throughout the second half and both sides tightening up defensively, 90 minutes of regulation ended with the clubs still even at 1-1 and entered extra time.
In the 98th minute, Houston finally broke the deadlock when second-half substitute Kamara found the back of the net with a header. Ching sent a teasing cross into the box from the right wing, which brought Reis off of his line, but Kamara rose and beat Reis to the ball, heading into the unguarded net.
Four minutes after Houston took the lead, New England evened the score once again, as Joseph scored his third goal in as many games. Ralston's in-swinging free kick from the left wing was aimed towards the back post, where Joseph cut in front of Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell and directed a bouncing header just inside the far post.
Reis made a crucial save on Ching's long-range shot in the 120th minute, just seconds before the final whistle sent the match to a penalty shootout.
After missing his own penalty attempt in the shootout and temporarily handing the Dynamo the lead, Reis came up huge with back-to-back saves on De Rosario and Ching to give New England the edge. However, with a chance to seal the victory for the Revs, Khano Smith's effort was denied by Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad, and Ricardo Clark scored for Houston to send the shootout into sudden death.
The Revolution's Jeff Larentowicz and Chris Tierney traded successful attempts with the Dynamo's Wade Barrett and Kamara before Albright scored and Ashe's left-footed shot struck the crossbar.
Reis finished with 12 saves, while Onstad stopped five shots for the Dynamo.
With the SuperLiga 2008 trophy on the shelf, the Revs will now return to their MLS regular-season schedule for the first time in over a month when they host the Eastern Conference rival Chicago Fire at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9 at Gillette Stadium.
Scoring Summary:
HOU - Nate Jaqua (unassisted) 18
NE - Steve Ralston (Mauricio Castro) 41
HOU - Kei Kamara (Brian Ching) 98
NE - Shalrie Joseph (Steve Ralston) 102
Penalty Kicks - Shootout:
NE - Steve Ralston (Goal)
HOU - Craig Waibel (Goal)
NE - Matt Reis (Missed)
HOU - Chris Wondolowski (Goal)
NE - Shalrie Joseph (Goal)
HOU - Dwayne De Rosario (Saved)
NE - Taylor Twellman (Goal)
HOU - Brian Ching (Saved)
NE - Khano Smith (Saved)
HOU - Ricardo Clark (Goal)
NE - Jeff Larentowicz (Goal)
HOU - Wade Barrett (Goal)
NE - Chris Tierney (Goal)
HOU - Kei Kamara (Goal)
NE - Chris Albright (Goal)
HOU - Corey Ashe (Missed)
New England Revolution: Matt Reis (GK), Chris Tierney, Amaechi Igwe, Jeff Larentowicz, Chris Albright, Mauricio Castro (Khano Smith 71), Shalrie Joseph, Steve Ralston, Sainey Nyassi, Kenny Mansally (Taylor Twellman 58), Kheli Dube (Adam Cristman 90)
Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren (GK), Pat Phelan, Brandon Tyler, Rob Valentino
STATS: Shots 15; Shots on Goal 7; Saves 12; Corner Kicks 9; Offsides 5; Fouls Committed 11
Houston Dynamo: Pat Onstad (GK), Wade Barrett, Bobby Boswell, Craig Waibel, Brad Davis (Chris Wondolowski 110), Ricardo Clark, Geoff Cameron, Brian Mullan (Corey Ashe 79), Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Ching, Nate Jaqua (Kei Kamara 72)
Substitutes Not Used: Tony Caig (GK), Kyle Brown, Mike Chabala, John Michael Hayden
STATS: Shots 25; Shots on Goal 16; Saves 5; Corner Kicks 8; Offsides 6; Fouls Committed 15
Misconduct Summary:
HOU - Brad Davis (caution) 14
NE - Shalrie Joseph (caution) 82
Referee: Howard Webb
Referee's Assistants: Hector Vergara (SAR), Greg Barkey (JAR)
Fourth Official: Jorge Gonzalez
Time of Game: 2:45
Weather: Partly cloudy and 71 degrees
Attendance: 9,232
NOTES
• The match marked the third time in the past two-and-a-half seasons that New England and Houston met in a cup final, but the first time that New England won ... the clubs met in the past two MLS Cup Finals (2006 and 2007), with Houston winning both, including in a penalty shootout in 2006.
• The penalty shootout victory was the Revolution's second in a shootout this season, as the club also defeated USL-2 side Crystal Palace Baltimore in penalties in a U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal.
• New England remained undefeated against Houston at Gillette Stadium (1-0-3). • Shalrie Joseph scored for the third straight game after going almost a year without scoring, making him the tournament's joint top goal scorer with three goals ... all three of Joseph's goals were back-post headers from Steve Ralston free kicks, and all three either tied the game or gave New England the lead ... prior to his three-game streak, Joseph hadn't scored a goal since July 22, 2007, when he converted a penalty kick in a 3-3 draw with Houston.
• Nate Jaqua's goal in the 18th minute was the first goal allowed by New England at home in SuperLiga 2008 ... the Revs earned shutout victories in their first three SuperLiga games at Gillette Stadium, defeating Santos Laguna (July 13), Pachuca (July 16) and Atlante (July 30) each by 1-0 score lines ... the goal snapped a 299-minute home shutout streak by the Revs in all competitions, who hadn't conceded a goal at home since the 78th minute of a 2-1 win over Toronto on June 28.
• Houston's goal in the 18th minute was its first in three matches against the Revolution this season ... New England won both games in the regular-season series, 3-0 on March 29 at Gillette Stadium, and 2-0 on June 12 at Robertson Stadium.
• Steve Ralston's goal was his team-leading seventh in all competitions this season, while it was his first in SuperLiga 2008 ... Ralston also finished the competition with a tournament-best four assists.
• Mauricio Castro's assist was his first in SuperLiga 2008 and his second in all competitions this season.
• Taylor Twellman replaced Kenny Mansally in the 58th minute, marking his first SuperLiga appearance and his first game action since July 4, when he played the final 30 minutes of the 2-1 victory at Los Angeles ... Twellman had been sidelined with a right hip strain.
• The Revs were without veteran defenders Jay Heaps and Michael Parkhurst, who served as New England's central defensive pairing in all three SuperLiga group games ... Heaps was suspended for the final after receiving a straight red card at the conclusion of the Revs' semifinal victory over Atlante (July 30) ... Parkhurst was missing for the second straight game, as the 24-year-old is with the U.S. Olympic Team in Tianjin, China, preparing for the Beijing Games.
• To compensate for the absence of Jay Heaps and Michael Parkhurst, the Revs used a central defensive pairing of Jeff Larentowicz and Amaechi Igwe ... Larentowicz, who made his first start as a defender for the Revolution in the club's semifinal victory over Atlante (July 30), stepped up to play on the backline for a second straight game, while Igwe, who is normally an outside back, made his first appearance as a center back for New England.
• With Amaechi Igwe playing in the middle of a four-man backline, Wellesley, Mass., native Chris Tierney started at left back ... it was the Noble and Greenough School graduate's second start in SuperLiga, as he also began the match against Pachuca (July 16) at left back.
