For the third straight year the New England Revolution Soccer team made it to the MLS Cup and are looking for their first ever cup win.  They will enter the game against the defensive powerhouse Houston Dynamo in a rematch of last years Cup.  Going in New England looks strong with the 3-5-2 lineup that got them to this final game.  Dynamo will most likely start the game without star striker Ching, but his replacement Jaqua is no slouch scoring in the West finals.  

Probably the biggest thing that needs to come together before Sunday for the Revs is strikers Twellman and Noonan.  Last Saturday against Chicago the two were just not on the same page and looked like it was the first time they had played together.  Taking awkward shots rather than setting up with gimme through passes to each other was not the typical Noonan Twellman teamwork we are used to seeing.  These two will have to figure out how to fix this rift if they want to put some balls in the net.  As fantastic as the heroic bicycle kick game winning goal of Twellmans (see video below) was to see, some solid fundamentals should get the job done.  

Goalkeeper Matt Reis is coming into this game with three straight playoff shutouts, and he certainly earned every one of them.  It seems Reis has been in just the right spot at the right time throughout the playoffs making his job look easy, which is exactly what great keepers tend to do.  Hopefully he will carry that same focus and intuition into the final game to give the Revs a great chance at taking home the Cup.

The final hurdle in overcoming the Dynamo will be keeping the Revs energy going throughout the second half of the game.  The Revs narrowly escaped with victories in their previous two games, as both the Red Bulls and Fire controlled the second half.  This is an area where Dynamo excels as they proved this year against FC Dallas in the West semifinals and in last years Cup against the Revs.  Dynamo has the ability to turn the Reis highlight reels we have enjoyed over the past couple weeks into horror flicks.

The MLS Cup starts Sunday November 18^th, at Noon ET and will air live on ABC.