MLS Cup 2006

MLS Cup 2006 was the 11th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 12, 2006. It was contested between the New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo to decide the champion of the 2006 season. The match was played at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, which had hosted the previous cup.

Both teams qualified for the playoffs by placing second in their respective conference during the regular season. New England were appearing in their second consecutive final, while Houston had been formed from the relocated San Jose Earthquakes. The match was tied 1–1 on goals scored 71 seconds apart by Taylor Twellman and Brian Ching in extra time. Houston won 4–3 in the first penalty shootout in MLS Cup history, with Ching scoring the winning penalty kick and Pat Onstad saving the follow-up in the fifth round. Houston and New England would stage a rematch in the following cup, which the Dynamo won in Washington, D.C.

The match was hosted at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, the venue of the previous final between the New England Revolution and Los Angeles Galaxy. The $80 million stadium was opened on August 6, 2005, and serves primarily as the home of FC Dallas. On January 31, 2006, MLS announced that Pizza Hut Park would repeat as the venue for a second consecutive MLS Cup, following a successful bid from FC Dallas; the other bidding finalist was the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, home to the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Home Depot Center was also the only other venue to previously host consecutive MLS Cups, having done so in 2003 and 2004. Pizza Hut Park was considered as a model for Houston's proposed stadium, along with other soccer-specific stadiums built by the league in the 2000s. During the run-up to the match, the MLS Cup trophy toured the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to promote the league and FC Dallas.

The MLS Cup is the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), a professional club soccer league based in the United States. The 2006 season was the eleventh in the league's history and was contested by twelve teams in two conferences, divided into the east and west. Each team played a total of 32 matches in the regular season from April to October, facing teams within their conference four times, and teams outside of their conference two times. The playoffs ran from mid-October to November and was contested by the top four teams in each conference. It was organized into three rounds: a home-and-away series with a winner determined by aggregate score in the Conference Semifinals, a single-match Conference Final, and the MLS Cup final.

MLS Cup 2006 was contested by the New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo, who had both finished second in their respective conferences during the regular season. The two teams finished within two points of each other in regular season standings and had identical home win–loss–draw records. The 2006 final also marked the first time that neither MLS Cup finalist had won their conference or division, as well as the first time that both finalists had qualified despite losing their first playoffs match. New England and Houston played each other twice during the regular season, trading 1–1 draws in May and July.

The New England Revolution finished as MLS Cup runners-up in 2002 and 2005, losing both championships to the Los Angeles Galaxy in overtime. The Revolution had also qualified for four straight Eastern Conference Finals, losing in 2003 to the Chicago Fire and in 2004 to D.C. United in a penalty shootout in between their MLS Cup appearances. The team finished second overall in league standings at the end of the 2005 regular season, setting new team records for wins and points after going on an eleven-match unbeaten streak. The Revolution were in their sixth season under manager Steve Nicol, who primarily used a 3–5–2 formation, and kept their starting lineup from the previous season. The team added forwards Kyle Brown and Willie Sims in the offseason to provide additional depth.

The Revolution opened their season with only three wins in their first thirteen matches, including a run of five draws in six matches during a winless streak from May to June. The team's struggles were blamed, in part, on injuries and Clint Dempsey's call-up to play in the World Cup that required manager Steve Nicol to use different starting lineups to rotate players. The return of Dempsey and other injured players helped the team to earn three more wins by early July, which helped New England rise from fourth to second in the Eastern Conference standings behind D.C. United.

Despite a six-match winless run in July and August, blamed on long road trips in the schedule, the Revolution remained in second place but fell further behind D.C. in the conference standings. New England finished the season with several home matches on a seven-match unbeaten streak, including five wins, which mirrored the end of the previous season. The team finished the regular season with 48 points, their second-highest record, and clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Dempsey was named to the MLS Best XI, while Matt Reis and Steve Ralston finished as finalists for other league awards.