this time between the teams as the two conference leaders -- was anything but a cagey encounter, though there was still nothing between them as they played to a 3-3 draw to round out Week 16 of the 2007 season.
The Revolution and Dynamo exploded for five goals in a 17-minute span in the second half after Houston saw its MLS-record shutout streak ended at 726 minutes when Pat Noonan hit for the only goal of the first half. But while Dynamo extended their lead atop the Western Conference ahead of idle FC Dallas, the Revolution ended the night tied for the East lead, after the New York Red Bulls defeated D.C. United 1-0 at Giants Stadium.
The Columbus Crew made sure the Eastern Conference would remain a tight race, moving into fourth place in the division with a 2-0 win against Toronto FC, while the Kansas City Wizards went down a man and gave up the equalizer in a 2-2 draw with the Colorado Rapids.
At Gillette Stadium, Dynamo came to New England sporting a gaudy shutout streak of better than 11-1/2 hours, while not having lost in league play since May 26, a span of 10 games. The Revolution had won just twice in their previous seven games, but still moved atop the East with a win against New York the week before.
Houston's record shutout run came to an end in the 32nd minute. A long clearance was headed on by Taylor Twellman, and Pat Noonan took advantage of a fallen defender to run onto the ball just outside the area and lift it over an onrushing Pat Onstad, the ball bouncing over the line just before Wade Barrett was able to clear.
After the break, the game suddenly burst to life. Four minutes after the restart Dwayne De Rosario hit a candidate for Goal of the Year honors, hitting a wicked, dipping strike from nearly 30 yards that sailed past Matt Reis inside the right-hand post.
It took just two minutes for the Revolution to regain the lead, Pat Noonan reaching around a defender to poke a half-cleared cross toward Twellman, and he hooked home a bouncing shot from the heart of the box. But Dynamo again pulled level in the 60th minute, as Joseph Ngwenya collected the ball on the right and slid a pass into the six-yard box that Brian Ching slotted home.
Barely a minute later, Ching put Dynamo into the lead for the first time. A free kick was swung in from the left flank and Ching rose up unmarked to head home for his second goal of the game and fourth in the last five.
But five minutes after that, the Revolution again pulled even, though not without some controversy. A free kick was driven into the wall, and De Rosario was adjudged to have used his hands when he knocked the ball down. From the ensuing penalty kick, Sharlie Joseph was saved by Onstad's dive to his left -- but referee Kevin Stott called for the kick to be retaken as Onstad moved off his line too early and a host of Houston defenders entered the box before the ball was struck. Joseph made no mistake with his second chance, driving it fiercely into the goal.
At Giants Stadium, the Red Bulls had lost three of their last four games, playing the second of five consecutive tilts at the Meadowlands. United were in a funk as well, winless in their last three games in all competitions after winning seven times in a nine-game stretch.
The game's lone goal came in the 19th minute. Claudio Reyna served up a free kick from the right, Jozy Altidore won a header in the penalty area to send it further goalward, and John Wolyniec came into the six-yard box to flick a header over Troy Perkins and into the goal.
United finished the game a man down when Fred was sent off in second-half stoppage time with a straight red card for a challenge on Dane Richards.
It was New York's first win against D.C. United at home since April 24, 2004 -- and Wolyniec scored on that day, a 3-2 win. It was also New York's first win against their Eastern Conference rivals since Oct. 8, 2005 at RFK Stadium.
At Crew Stadium, the Crew were coming off a loss away to Chivas USA that put an end to a six-game winless run, while Toronto FC were completing a six-game road swing that began with a loss, but had since seen a victory and three draws.
After a quiet first half, Guillermo Barros Schelotto hit for two goals in six minutes to send the Crew on their way. First, in the 50th minute, a lovely buildup saw an overlapping Frankie Hejduk get the ball on the right and float in a cross. It sailed over Alejandro Moreno's head, but Schelotto came in behind to knock it home first-time.
Then Columbus won a free kick just a bit outside the TFC area. The Argentinean playmaker hooked his curling effort around the wall and while Toronto 'keeper Srdjan Djekanovic was able to get his hands to it, the ball still bobbled into the net for Schelotto's fourth goal on the year, to go with seven assists.
At Arrowhead Stadium, the Wizards were coming off a victory against Real Salt Lake that had put an end to a six-game losing streak. But the Rapids had not been as fortunate, still winless since May 26, a span of eight games, and having been shutout in three consecutive matches and five of their last six.
The Wizards took the lead in the 24th minute as Eddie Johnson continued his rich vein of form. This came from a terrific movement, Sasha Victorine freeing Davy Arnaud on the right, who drove a low cross across the top of the six where Johnson had a step on his defender, and the All-Star turned the cross home inside the near post.
The Rapids put an end to their 382-minute streak without a goal in the 42nd minute when Jimmy Conrad was ruled to have pushed over Herculez Gomez as they raced into the area after a ball that 'keeper Kevin Hartman was sliding to control. Jovan Kirovski hammered the resulting spot kick right down the center of the goal.
Yet it took the Wizards not a minute to respond. Arnaud broke down a pair of defenders on the left and lashed a low shot that beat Bouna Coundoul's dive -- but not the left-hand post. But Johnson was there to knock home the rebound into the empty net for his league-leading 12th goal of the season, and his ninth in his last four league appearances.
The game had been a fractious affair from the start, and it boiled over in the 67th minute, when Jose Burciaga, Jr., was sent off after he pushed Coundoul after the two had become tangled in the area.
Nine minutes later the Rapids took advantage. Terry Cooke swung in a corner from the left and Facundo Erpen got up at the near post to flick home a glancing header for his first goal since joining the Rapids, giving his new team a third draw in four games.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
