The first MLS Cup final between teams that failed to win their respective conferences also had been billed as a battle of U.S. star forwards Taylor Twellman of New England and Brian Ching of Houston. And on that note, the hype was warranted as both players contributed to a game that didn’t truly become a classic until after the end of a scoreless regulation session.
But that extra time certainly made up for the scoring drought prior. With sudden death rules having been eliminated, the teams played two 15-minute periods of continuous overtime in which they managed the unlikely feat of each scoring once.