To win an MLS Cup title, mental toughness is needed most when a celebration is about to break out. Finish the job, then celebrate.
In the stunned New England locker room at Pizza Hut Park on Sunday evening, the prevailing sentiment was that Revolution failed to shed the bridesmaid label because they forgot that golden rule.
Victory in MLS Cup 2006 seemed almost certain when Taylor Twellman scored in the second overtime. All New England had to do was play solid defense for seven minutes against a fatigued team. But in the quickest scoring turnaround in Cup history, Brian Ching answered Twellman's goal in just one minute, 11 seconds and Houston went on to claim the championship.
Why? A couple of New England players were quick to say the team relaxed and simply thought it was over before it was over.
"Any coach will tell you that after you score, don't let your guard down," midfielder Daniel Hernandez said. "It was the worst day in the world to have that happen and we did it today. We let our guard down and gave the game away.
"It wasn't any particular person's fault. It was just the team effort of them even getting down to that point. If you want to win championships, you can't let that happen."
New England may have been breathing a collective sigh of relief after scoring its first goal in an MLS Cup Final over a span of 346 minutes.
"We looked at the clock and there was seven minutes left in the game," Hernandez said. "We thought we had them. Then (1:11) later, they scored. I still can't believe it. You can't win championships like that."
Forward Pat Noonan agreed that New England was still basking in the glow of Twellman's goal when Ching answered with the tying score.
"We were right where we would have wanted to be, with a one-goal lead and seven minutes to go," Noonan said. "If we break down the ball right away, they shouldn't be able to come right into our defensive end."
Goalkeeper Matt Reis also reflected on the notion that the most vulnerable defensive time for a team is right after it has scored a goal.
It was a painful reminder that came with New England so tantalizingly close to a championship.
"You can't relax," Hernandez said. "Ever."
Robert Falkoff is a contributor for MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
