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. New England Revolution 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