FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - All the pre-match hype from Sunday's "clash of the titans" between Eastern Conference-leading New England Revolution and Western Conference-leading Houston Dynamo predicted a tight contest with little to separate the two sides.
While the latter was proven true in Sunday's 3-3 draw at Gillette Stadium, the former was blown out of the water by six goals and a host of chances.
"MLS Cup was tight," Revolution midfielder Andy Dorman said. "The first game we played this year was tight. Today, it was a good, open, attacking game. It was a good advertisement for the league."
The advertisement was on display after Pat Noonan snapped Dynamo's 726-minute shutout streak in the 32nd minute by lobbing Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
After a lull to finish the first half, the second half saw the teams inject five goals into the first 22 minutes of the second stanza.
"It was a bit of a rollercoaster game," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "At halftime, we could have been three ahead with three fantastic chances that we never took. And then the heat got to us to be honest. We made a lot of mistakes that we wouldn't normally have done."
Those mistakes included three second-half goals by Dynamo, including a rocket from Dwyane De Rosario (49th minute) and a pair of Brian Ching tallies (60th and 61st minutes).
"Giving up three goals at home is not good," Dorman said.
Nicol was displeased with the manner in which the goals were conceded.
"When it's so hot and defenses are tired and people just don't have the extra half a gallon of legs, then they just don't close the ball properly and De Rosario sticks it in," Nicol said. "It's a fantastic goal. And [Brian] Ching's goals were just bad marking."
It was stereotypical of a Revolution home campaign that has struggled to get off the ground. This represented the fourth draw for the team at Gillette Stadium (3-1-4) on the season.
The manner of the draw was most frustrating to Shalrie Joseph, who scored the game-tying goal in the 67th minute from the penalty spot.
"We should have got three points, after going up 1-0 and then 2-1," Joseph said. "To give up such soft goals, our defense didn't play well today. We just have to look forward to next weekend and try to get three points against Real Salt Lake."
Dorman said that the Eastern Conference table dictates that the Revolution's home form needs to pick up if they want to capture the conference title and home-field advantage in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
"We need to be taking three points at home," Dorman said. "If we want to get where we need to be, we need to be taking these points before we have to go on the road and get them."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
