Dwayne De Rosario of Scarborough, Ont., set up his team's first goal and headed in the winner in the second half as the Houston Dynamo came from behind over the heartbroken New England Revolution to win a second consecutive Major League Soccer title.

De Rosario headed in a pass from Brad Davis inside the right corner of the net past New England's Matt Reis in the 74th minute in a 2-1 win at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

De Rosario earned most valuable player honours for his effort.

"We proved how strong of a will our team has," De Rosario said. "We never give up."

Vancouver native Pat Onstad stood tall in net for Houston to preserve the lead, making saves on Andy Dorman and Jeff Larentowicz in the game's final minutes.

Houston beat New England in penalty kicks in last year's championship. The Revolution have now lost in the final four times in the last six seasons, with three of the losses coming in overtime or extra kicks.

The Dynamo trailed until the 61st minute when De Rosario initiated a play that led to a mad scramble in the New England box. Joseph Ngwenya pounced on a rebound to tie the game.

Taylor Twellman, who also scored in last year's final, put New England ahead in the 20th minute when he headed in a cross from Steve Ralston.

Twellman had a chance to put the Revolution up by a pair ten minutes later but his shot skidded harmlessly to Onstad. 

Dwayne De Rosario holds the championship MVP trophy after Sunday's win.
(Pablo Martinez/Associated Press)

Ralson is the all-time leader in MLS games played but remains without a championship.

"How cruel can it be?" Ralston said. "We're all devastated right now. There's not much to say. We're all feeling the same thing."

Houston played without a pair of all-stars. Brian Ching, who scored in last year's final, was out with a leg injury while Ricardo Clark was suspended for kicking FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz during a regular season game.

Richard Mulrooney, briefly a member of Toronto FC this season, recorded the first shot of the game for the Dynamo.

Houston now have titles in their first two years of existence after the franchise relocated from San Jose. The Earthquakes won the title for San Jose in 2001 and 2003, which makes for a dominant run of four championship rings in six years for several Houston players.

With files from the Associated Press