Houston Dynamo MLS Champions

Houston Dynamo's resilience pays off with a penalty kick victory over the New England Revolution to win MLS Cup 2006.

The old adage, "Defense wins championships," was apparent throughout the match as the sides battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation. Dynamo Keeper Pat Onstad was outstanding with five saves to keep hope alive for the team at least until the second half of overtime.

Taylor Twellman scored in minute 113 to seemingly seal a Revolution victory with roughly six minutes remaining in overtime. But Houston would not fold under the pressure. Brian Ching answered Twellman just over a 60 seconds later with an incredible header goal off of a deflected pass from Midfielder Brian Mullan.

Penalty kicks followed the conclusion of the overtime period. Houston and New England traded penalty goals through the first two rounds. A Revolution miss and a save by Revolution Keeper Reis resulted in the even standing going into the fifth and final round of PK's. Ching's penalty kick scorched passed the Reis into the back of the net. Onstad guessed correctly by diving right to stop the Jay Heap's penalty kick win the title for Houston and make the Dynamo the first Houston sports franchise to win a title in its inaugural season since the Comets in 1993.

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Photo: flickr user wjarrettc