After being beaten by the Houston Dynamo by penalty kicks in 2006’s Major League Soccer Cup final, and again in overtime during the 2007 MLS final, the New England Revolution got their revenge Tuesday, hoisting the SuperLiga trophy after a 6-5 win over Houston.
After the regulation 90 minutes ended in a 1-1 draw, the tournament went into two 15-minute overtime periods, where each team scored an additional goal. It took eight rounds of penalty kicks before Houston's Corey Ashe hit the crossbar solidifying the 6-5 win for the Revolution, behind their outstanding goalkeeper Matt Reis.
The 9,232 fans in Gillette Stadium were perched on the edge of their seats, as the Revolution came from behind not once, but twice.
"Whenever these two teams meet in big games there is definitely a lot between the two," Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear said.
The first goal came for Houston in the 18th minute, when New England's center back Amaechi Igwe attempted to clear the ball backward in the Revolution end, and Dynamo forward Nate Jaqua took advantage, giving Houston an early lead.
The 19-year-old Igwe almost cost his team another goal a minute later, when Jaqua stole the ball from him in front of the Revs’ net, and passed to Brian Ching, who hit the post.
Houston forward Dwayne De Rosario broke from the New England defense, but his shot was first cleared by Chris Albright, and the corner kick cleared by defender Chris Tierney.
In the 41st minute, the Revs’ Steve Ralston tied the game with an assist from Mauricio Castro.
The score remained 1-1 throughout the second half of regulation, before the two 15-minute overtimes.
In the 98th minute, Houston forward Brian Ching passed to substitute Kei Kamara who put his team ahead again with a header giving the Dynamo a 2-1 lead.
Three minutes later, the Revolution's Steve Ralston passed to Shalrie Joseph, who headed in the clutch goal to tie the score at 2 at the end of overtime.
Revolution defender Chris Albright scored in the eighth round of penalty kicks to give the Revolution the advantage before Ashe's miss.
The SuperLiga tournament, only in its second year, features eight teams- the top four MLS teams and the top four Mexico first division teams.
New England proved victorious over the orange-clad team that trumped them twice before in the MLS Cup, and amid a celebration of streamers, glitter, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft hoisting the SuperLiga trophy, the Revs became the first American team to claim the $1 million SuperLiga prize.
"Our boys pride themselves on their commitment and passion to the game and each other and that was really what got it through," said New England head coach Steve Nicol. "I can't say enough about the quality and the character of the players."
Halfway through the season, the two MLS Cup rivals are in good standing to meet again in the playoffs. New England (10-4-3) is the league’s top team, and Houston (6-4-8) is second in the West.
Houston coach Dominic Kinnear would like to see a rematch between the teams, and that the Dynamo's ambition right now is to get to the MLS Finals.
New England coach Steve Nicol agrees, saying “If we can get these two teams in the MLS final, I’d vote for that.”
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment