Houston Dynamo: 2007 MLS Cup Champions

The Houston Dynamo is the 2007 Major League Soccer Champion after defeating the New England Revolution 2-1 in the 2007 MLS Cup at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. In the first ever consecutive pairing in the MLS Cup, the Revolution jumped out to a 1-0 lead after a Taylor Twellman goal in the 20^th minute, but couldn't hang on in the second half. They had several late opportunities, specifically a Jeff Larentowicz header off the Houston goalie Pat Onstead's feet. For his part, Twellman became the first player in the 12 year history of the MLS Cup to score in two consecutive finals matches; that was his 10^th goal in 21 playoff games and his third straight playoff game with a goal.

In the 61^st minute, Joseph Ngwenya equalized the game at 1-1, and in he 74^th minute Dwayne De Rosario broke the game open for the Dynamo with a header to take the lead and eventually the game. The Dynamo are the first back-to-back MLS champions since D.C. United did it in the first two MLS Cups.

The Dynamo won their second MLS Cup without all star forward Brian Ching - the MVP of MLS Cup 2006; The Revolution have now made the trip to the MLS Cup game four times and come back empty all four times - twice to the Los Angeles Galaxy and now twice to the Houston Dynamo. The Revolution won their first ever finals championship in October by defeating Dallas FC at the 2007 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

The team that became the Houston Dynamo - the 2003 San Jose Earthquakes - also won an MLS Cup, but that history stayed in San Jose with the name Earthquakes. A new incarnation of MLS soccer will take the pitch in San Jose next season.

Both teams had made significant pushes to get their fans to the game: the Revolution offered free shuttle service to the game and the Dynamo offered discounted airfare and hotel packages. The announced attendance for today's game was 39,859.

The MLS will be expanding into San Jose to replace the team that left the area to become the Houston Dynamo and Seattle will be gaining a franchise for the first time - adding these teams will expand the league to 15 teams and the league would like to add a 16^th by years' end; the league plans to have 18 by 2010. Philadelphia and St. Louis are reportedly frontrunners to be added as the 16^th franchise.

The league continues to grow in popularity, breaking its all time attendance record in 2007 with over three million attending.