page_title: MLS Cup 2008
section_title: Venue
hierarchical_section_title: MLS Cup 2008 / Venue
caption_attribution_description: It’s lights out for Dynamo in L.A. Quest for 3rd MLS Cup ends with extra-time collapse By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle Nov. 14, 2009, 3:07AM CARSON, Calif. -- It took extra time, but David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Gregg Berhalter and the rest of the Los Angeles Galaxy finally put the lights out for good on the Dynamo in the Western Conference final. The Galaxy, who began the season with Donovan and Beckham needing to repair their fractured relationship, beat the Dynamo 2-0 to win the Western Conference title Friday night and clinch a berth in the MLS Cup. The Dynamo’s hopes began to fade shortly after referee Terry Vaughn called Ricardo Clark for a foul on Jovan Kirovski in the 103rd minute. Beckham took the free kick from about 38 yards and found Omar Gonzalez, who headed it toward the goal from inside the 6-yard box. Eddie Robinson, who had replaced Brad Davis in the 96th minute, stepped in front of Gonzalez’s header and kicked it a few yards up. Fortunately for the Galaxy, Berhalter found the rebound and pushed it into the right side of the net from about 12 yards while falling back for the 1-0 lead. &quot;I was just ready to put my body on the line,&quot; Gonzalez said. &quot;I just had to get my head on it. All year, I haven’t really gotten that many headers. Time was running down, and I just had to get my head on it. It just happened to come off a Dynamo player, and Gregg was right there to finish it off. Beckham put a great ball in there.&quot; Clark’s problems continued in the 108th minute, when he was called for a penalty for tripping Alan Gordon inside the Dynamo’s 18-yard box. Donovan converted the penalty kick and ran toward the right side, where Beckham sprinted toward him as both stars began to run in an embrace. &quot;I thought the foul that led to the set piece in their goal was kind of soft based on the previous calls that he’d been making,&quot; Clark said. &quot;I don’t think there were consistent with that at all. I think that cost us the game. I think it’s fair to call the penalty, but I don’t think the first call.” The game before a crowd of 25,373 at the Home Depot Center was marred by 18-minute delays in the first and second halves, prompting several Dynamo players to say the power failures were &quot;unprofessional.&quot; With the contest scoreless after regulation, the game went into two 15-minute extra-time periods. The Galaxy will next face the winner of today's Eastern Conference Final between the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final Nov. 22 in Seattle. The Dynamo, who won the MLS Cup in 2006 and 2007 in their first two seasons in Houston after arriving from San Jose, Calif., got off to a sluggish start as the Galaxy threatened over the first eight minutes of the match. The Dynamo then began to control the pace until the teams and fans were stunned by the first delay. In the 18th minute, the flood lights went off to bring the action to a halt. &quot;I thought we were doing OK until the lights went out,&quot; Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. &quot;The momentum kind of swung a little bit after that.&quot; Five minutes into the second half, the lights went out again to force another stoppage. &quot;The loss in stadium lights during the match was due to two significant power dips in Southern California Edison Industrial grid in which the facility sits,&quot; read a statement from the Home Depot Center. &quot;Any time the facility experiences a power dip on the network, emergency event lights are activated and the stadium lights immediately reset, which takes approximately 20 minutes to illuminate to full capacity for the event to resume.&quot; In the 24th minute, Brian Mullan drew a yellow card for fouling Edson Buddle about 30 yards out to force a free kick that was taken by Beckham. Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad, 41, made a sensational save in the 25th minute when he dived and punched out a brilliant free kick that Beckham sent toward the right corner. As Stuart Holden sprinted down the left side in the 77th minute, Dema Kovalenko tripped him and drew a yellow card. Brian Ching almost gave the Dynamo the lead in the 78th minute from 8 yards out when he masterfully headed Mullan's cross toward keeper Donovan Ricketts, who made a sensational leap to push the ball over the crossbar to force a corner kick. In the ensuing corner kick, Andrew Hainault sent a scare through the Galaxy by heading a corner kick into the net, but Vaughn called a foul on Luis Angel Landin over A.J. DeLaGarza on the play, and the goal was disallowed. &quot;I’d like to see a replay of our goal,&quot; Kinnear said. &quot;If you’re going to call a foul on that, you can pretty much call a foul on every set piece that’s been in Major League Soccer this year because there was a fair amount of contact.&quot; jesus.ortiz@chron.com
context_page_description: MLS Cup 2008 was the 13th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer. The match took place on November 23, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, near Los Angeles. It was contested between Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls, both from the league's Eastern Conference.
  Both finalists were making their first appearance at the MLS Cup, having historically exited the playoffs in earlier rounds. Columbus won the Supporters' Shield with the most regular season points and defeated Kansas City and the Chicago Fire in the playoffs to reach the final. The Red Bulls finished the regular season with a losing record and were seeded into the Western Conference bracket as a wildcard, eliminating defending champions Houston and Real Salt Lake in the process.
  Columbus won the game by a score of 3–1 with goals from Alejandro Moreno, Chad Marshall, and Frankie Hejduk — all assisted by Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto was named man of the match, adding to his MVP award from the regular season. Sigi Schmid became the first manager to win the MLS Cup with two different teams, shortly before leaving the Crew to coach the Seattle Sounders FC.
context_section_description: The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, home to the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA, was announced as the venue for the 2008 edition of the MLS Cup on November 19, 2007. It marked the third time that the stadium had hosted the MLS Cup final, following back-to-back editions in 2003 and 2004. The stadium opened in June 2003 and has a capacity of 27,000, making it the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States. The Home Depot Center also hosted the 2003 MLS All-Star Game, the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, the 2007 SuperLiga final, and two editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The stadium and its grounds are also used for annual training camps by the U.S. men's national team.
caption: The Home Depot Center at night, pictured in 2009
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