OUT: DF Marshall Leonard (L Achilles tendon repair); QUESTIONABLE: MF Daniel Hernandez (R foot); PROBABLE: MF Clint Dempsey (R ankle sprain); FW Pat Noonan (R sports hernia); MF Shalrie Joseph (R hand); FW Taylor Twellman (L hernia/hip); MF Steve Ralston (R leg contusion)
HOUSTON DYNAMO -- PROBABLE: DF Adrian Serioux (L knee sprain)
MLS CUP FINALS
Three of the 10 finals in MLS Cup history have been decided by the lone goal scored - and two have involved the Revolution, their two previous trips to the championship game in 2002 and 2005, when they lost on both occasions to extra-time goals by the Los Angeles Galaxy. The first 1-0 cup final was the Kansas City Wizards' victory against the Chicago Fire in 2000.
Four of the MLS Cup Finals have been decided in extra time - and two of those involving the Revolution. The first three were settled by golden goals - D.C. United's 1996 win against Los Angeles, the Earthquakes' 2001 victory against the Galaxy, then L.A.'s win against New England in 2002. Last year's Galaxy victory was the first MLS Cup victory to go into extra time and see 120 minutes fully played.
This is the first time since 1996 that both MLS Cup Finalists lost their first game in the playoffs and recovered to claim a spot in the title game. That year, D.C. United lost in a shootout in the opening game of the playoffs before recovering to win the inaugural championship match; their opponents, the Los Angeles Galaxy, lost to the San Jose Earthquakes in their first postseason game.
TODAY'S REFEREES
Today's referee will be Jair Marrufo from El Paso, Texas, who will be presiding over his first MLS Cup. He has been an MLS referee since the 2002 season. Over the regular season, Marrufo officiated 12 matches, calling an average of 26.8 fouls per match (seventh fewest among 28 referees) and issuing an average of 3.2 yellow cards (16th out of 28). He sent off one player and whistled two penalties. The assistant referees will be Craig Lowry and Nate Clement. Coincidentally, the pair also ran the lines in the 1999 MLS Cup Final at Foxboro Stadium. For Lowry (New Holland, Pa.), it's his fourth MLS Cup (1999, 2000, 2003); for Clement (Middletown, Del.), it's his third (1999, 2004). The fourth official will be Kevin Stott (Chino, Calif.), who was the referee for MLS Cup 2001 and 2005.
THE COACHES
Dominic Kinnear becomes the 13th coach to guide a team in the MLS Cup Final. Six - Lothar Osiander (1996), Glenn Myernick (1997), Thomas Rongen (1999), Dave Sarachan (2003), Peter Nowak (2004) and Steve Sampson (2005) - have coached in one MLS championship game.
Six coaches, including Steve Nicol, have led a team to an MLS Cup Final more than once. This is Nicol's third appearance in a final, joining Bruce Arena (D.C. United - 1996, 1997, 1998) and Sigi Schmid (Los Angeles - 1999, 2001, 2002) with the most for a head coach. Three coaches have directed teams in two finals: Bob Bradley (Chicago - 1998, 2000), Bob Gansler (Kansas City - 2000, 2004) and Frank Yallop (San Jose - 2001, 2003).
After six consecutive MLS Cup winners were led by foreign-born coaches, Steve Sampson broke that run last year when the Galaxy defeated the Revolution; if New England had won, the Scotland-born Nicol would have made it seven. The list: 2004 - Peter Nowak (Poland); 2003 - Frank Yallop (England); 2002 - Sigi Schmid (Germany); 2001 - Yallop; 2000 - Bob Gansler (Hungary); 1999 - Thomas Rongen (Holland); 1998 - Bob Bradley (USA); 1997 - Bruce Arena (USA); 1996 - Arena.
PIZZA HUT PARK
This is the fourth time an MLS Cup Final has been played for a second time in a single stadium, after Pizza Hut Park played host to the championship game a year ago. It's also the second time that the same stadium has welcomed the final in back-to-back years, after The Home Depot Center in 2003 and 2004. The other multiple hosts: Foxboro Stadium (1996 and 1999) and RFK Memorial Stadium (1997 and 2000). Pizza Hut Park is the seventh stadium to play host to the MLS Cup Final.
This is also the third soccer-specific stadium, built since the start of Major League Soccer, to play host to the league's championship game. In addition to the two Finals played in Carson, Calif., Columbus Crew Stadium was the site of MLS Cup 2001.
Pizza Hut Park hasn't exactly been a happy place for either team to visit this year. On their lone trip to Frisco, the New England Revolution were blitzed for four goals in the opening 19 minutes of the game and lost 4-0 to FC Dallas, their worst defeat of the season. Houston Dynamo did manage to claim a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas on their first visit on May 13, then on Sept. 2 were beaten 1-0 by an 86th-minute goal. The Revolution did win in their first-ever visit to Pizza Hut Park, defeating FC Dallas 2-1 on Aug. 13 of last year, before losing in MLS Cup.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Of the 14 New England Revolution players that saw action in last year's MLS Cup Final, 13 are in the squad this year - including all 11 starters from last year's final. Only Ryan Latham, who came on as a substitute at the break in extra time, is not with the Revolution this year. However, just five players still remain from the 2002 team who played in that match: Taylor Twellman, Jay Heaps, Daniel Hernandez, Steve Ralston and Joe Franchino (all of whom started). Current Dynamo forward Alejandro Moreno was a member of the Galaxy in that '02 final.
The Revolution have had to do without two influential figures for long stretches during the season, and their absences were felt. Through injury and World Cup duty, Clint Dempsey missed 11 games during the regular season - and in those games, the Revolution went 2-4-5, scoring 11 goals while allowing 16. With Dempsey in the first team, they went 10-4-7, scoring 28 goals and allowing 19. In the playoffs, it turned upside down - with Dempsey in the starting lineup, the Revolution lost 1-0 to the Chicago Fire; without him, they won twice, defeating the Fire 2-1, then knocking off D.C. United 1-0.
The Revolution were also without forward Pat Noonan for even longer periods. However, Noonan didn't quite bring the same effect to the New England team. He started the season opener against Los Angeles - a 1-0 victory - then in his next 10 appearance in the starting lineup, the Revolution failed to win, scoring just five goals while allowing 10. In Noonan's last start in the regular season, the Revolution were victorious, a 1-0 triumph on Sept. 9 vs. New York, his last previous start before the Eastern Conference Championship win against D.C.
Of the 12 MLS players on rosters this year that had been a member of an MLS team in each of the first 11 years since the inaugural 1996 season, only two have yet to win an MLS Cup: New England midfielder Steve Ralston and Real Salt Lake forward Jason Kreis.
The Revolution have gone 233 minutes without scoring a goal in MLS Cup Finals, a record for the final. The Los Angeles Galaxy went 187 minutes without scoring in an MLS Cup Final - the final 75 minutes of the 2001 final to Carlos Ruiz's golden goal to win the 2002 final in the 113th minute. That mark passed the Chicago Fire stretch of 183 minutes without a goal, beginning after their second goal in MLS Cup 1998, through a shutout in the 2000 championship game, to their first goal in the 4-2 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes in 2003.
Just five players have been on the losing end of MLS Cup Finals on three different occasions. Greg Vanney is the only one to have not claimed a winners' medal, playing with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996, 1999 and 2001. Mauricio Cienfuegos and Cobi Jones were also part of those three teams, but then lifted the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy in 2002 (and, for Jones, also in 2005). Both Chris Armas and Ante Razov were in that 1996 Galaxy team, but won with the Chicago Fire in 1998, before they were losing finalists with that club in 2000 and 2003.
This is the first time in MLS history that both teams have used just one goalkeeper throughout their entire MLS campaign. Both Matt Reis (New England) and Pat Onstad (Houston) started and played every minute of each one of their team's 32 regular season games, as well as every minute of their three matches in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Only once before has a team coming into the MLS Cup Final with a goalkeeper having played every minute of every MLS game - Kevin Hartman of the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1999. Zach Thornton started every game of the 2003 campaign for the Chicago Fire, but came off at halftime for a substitution in the final game of the season (after the playoff picture was set). A year ago, both Reis and Hartman played in all but one game for the two MLS Cup Finalists.
Steve Nicol has reached the MLS semifinals in each of his five seasons as head coach of the Revolution, leading to three trips to MLS Cup. Over the last 20 years, only two other coaches/managers in major North American pro sports led their team to five consecutive "final four" appearances: Bobby Cox of the Braves (1991-1999, excluding 1994 when there was no MLB postseason) and Chuck Daly of the Pistons (1986-1990). The last coach to do so in the NHL was Al Arbour of the Islanders (1978-1983); the last in the NFL was John Madden of the Raiders (1973-1977).
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Houston officially will be playing in their first MLS Cup Final. In December of 2005, the San Jose Earthquakes were relocated to Houston. However, the team's history, colors and name were to remain in the Bay Area in the event that potential new investors could one day bring soccer back to northern California. Therefore, while the Earthquakes had won the 2001 and 2003 MLS Cups, those championships did not travel with the team to Houston. The players and coaching staff were moved to Houston, where the team began their history from scratch.
Five players who saw time in the San Jose Earthquakes 4-2 win against the Chicago Fire in MLS Cup 2003 have moved to Houston: goalkeeper Pat Onstad, defenders Craig Waibel and Eddie Robinson, and midfielders Brian Mullan and Dwayne De Rosario. Brian Ching was also a member of that team, but was unavailable for the final after injuring his Achilles tendon in August. Just two current members of Dynamo were with the Quakes for the 2001 final - Wade Barrett (then in his first stint in MLS), and De Rosario, who of course came off the bench to score the golden goal game-winner. Current Dynamo defender Kelly Gray came off the bench as a substitute for the Fire in the 2003 final.
Dynamo also felt the effects of the absence of a key performer during the season, as Brian Ching missed 11 games over the course of the season. With Ching out of the lineup, Houston posted a 2-4-5 record (11 points), scoring 15 goals while allowing 18. With Ching in the first XI, Dynamo were 9-4-8 (35 points), scoring 29 goals while conceding 22.
Houston will be without a vital performer as Ricardo Clark will miss the final through suspension after receving yellow cards in the last two playoff games. Clark missed just one game during the regular season - a 2-2 tie with Chicago Fire on Aug. 30. Clark is the first player to be suspended for an MLS Cup Final since Los Angeles Galaxy defender Dan Calichman missed the first championship game, also through yellow card accumulation.
Pat Onstad is bidding to become just the second goalkeeper to start and win two MLS Cup Finals. Kevin Hartman is the other -- he's started four in all, seeing the Galaxy win two and lose two. D.C. United had four different 'keepers (Mark Simpson, Scott Garlick, Tom Presthus and Nick Rimando) in their four MLS Cup triumphs. Onstad started MLS Cup 2003 for the Earthquakes; the starter in San Jose's 2001 victory was current Colorado 'keeper Joe Cannon.
On two occasions, the MLS Cup Final has been decided by players coming off the bench - the San Jose Earthquakes victory in 2001 against the Los Angeles Galaxy, when Dwayne De Rosario scored the golden goal game-winner, and last year, when Guillermo Ramirez's strike gave the Galaxy the extra-time victory against the Revolution. Of the 29 goals scored all-time in MLS Cup Finals, four have been scored by substitutes - the others were Tony Sanneh (D.C. United, 1996) and Adrian Paz (Colorado Rapids, 1997).
