MLS Major League Soccer

Conference Championships Promise Drama

Published on November 10, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


Eastern Conference Championship Preview Notes

Thursday, Nov. 13

Chicago Fire at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2, Deportes)

- These midwest rivals have never met in the postseason.

- Both regular season meetings this year ended in 2-2 draws - the first on July 5 at Crew Stadium, the second on October 12 at Toyota Park.

- Fire forward Brian McBride returns to Columbus to face the team that drafted him first overall in the inaugural MLS Draft. In eight seasons with the Crew, McBride scored 62 goals - tied with Jeff Cunningham for the club's all-time lead. This will be McBride's first time playing in Crew Stadium as an opponent.

- On Oct. 26, 2003, in his most recent MLS game at Crew Stadium, and his last in a Crew jersey, McBride scored twice and added an assist in a 6-2 win over the Chicago Fire in front of 19,404.

- The Crew have appeared in three previous Conference Championship games and have fallen each time (2002, 1999 & 1998).

- In 35 regular season meetings, Chicago leads the series 17-10-8 overall and is 8-5-4 on the road in Columbus, but 4-0-3 in its last seven visits to Crew Stadium. The Crew's most recent home victory against Chicago was July 3, 2004.

- The Crew are 11-2-2 at home this year, having doubled their opponents' goals scored, 30 to 15.

- Both teams feature a mix of decorated veterans and rising young talent. Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Brian McBride, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto have garnered big headlines, while Chris Rolfe, 25, and Robbie Rogers, 21, scored key playoff goals for the Fire and Crew respectively. Rolfe is from Dayton, Ohio, about a 90-minute drive from Columbus.

Complete series guide available here: http://web.mlsnet.com/pdf/mls/2008/playoffs/CLBvCHIecc.pdf

Western Conference Championship Preview Notes

Saturday, Nov. 15

New York Red Bulls at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m. (FSC, FSE, HDNet)

- The winner of this game will earn its first MLS Cup final appearance. The Red Bulls have made the playoffs nine times; this is Real Salt Lake's first playoff appearance in its four-year history.

- Real Salt Lake is unbeaten in seven consecutive games (3-0-4).

- New York has never lost to RSL, going 2-0-6 in the all-time series.

- In 2000, the only other time New York won a playoff series, current RSL midfielder Clint Mathis was team's star player, logging 16 goals and 14 assists in the regular season and playoffs combined, including two goals in the win at Dallas that put the MetroStars into the conference championship, where they lost to Chicago.

- The last time the two top seeded teams in a conference were eliminated in the first round was 2005 when Los Angeles and Colorado advanced to the Conference Championship match as the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds.

- The teams met twice during the 2008 regular season with New York holding the slight edge at 1-0-1. The Red Bulls defeated RSL, 2-1, on Sept. 13 at Giants Stadium and the teams played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 9 in the inaugural game at Rio Tinto Stadium.

- Rio Tinto Stadium is the second soccer-specific stadium to host a conference championship game in its opening season (1999 - Columbus Crew Stadium).

Complete series guide available here: http://web.mlsnet.com/pdf/mls/2008/playoffs/RSLvNYwcc.pdf

Crew Head Coach Sigi Schmid and Forward Alejandro Moreno to Preview Championship Game on Tuesday

Major League Soccer will host a teleconference call tomorrow beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET with Columbus Crew Head Coach, and MLS Coach of the Year finalist, Sigi Schmid and forward Alejandro Moreno to preview the MLS Eastern Conference Championship game.

WHAT: Eastern Conference Championship Preview Call

U.S. and Canadian media should dial (877) 391-5953

International Dial-in number: (706) 634-9483

Conference ID: 73392114

WHEN: Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. ET

NOTE: Translation for Spanish-language questions from the media will be made available as necessary. The League plans to host a Western Conference Championship call on Wednesday - details to be made available on Tuesday.

Red Bulls Midfielder Dane Richards Voted MLS Cup Playoffs Player of the Week

New York Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards was voted Major League Soccer's MLS Cup Playoffs Player of the Week. Richards scored a goal, recorded an assist and set up the penalty kick that was converted in the Red Bulls, 3-0 upset of two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo.

This is the first Major League Soccer Player of the Week award for the 24-year old Richards, a standout at Clemson University. Richards was drafted by the Red Bulls 19th overall in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft and went on to star for the club being named one of the three finalists for Gatorade Rookie of the Year. The Jamaican-born Richards has received eight caps for the Jamaican national team. Richards and the Red Bulls will be in action in the Western Conference Championship game versus Real Salt Lake on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 9:30 p.m. ET (Fox Soccer Channel & HDnet). For more on Richards' Player of the Week honor click here.

Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year to be Announced Tuesday

The 2008 MLS Season End awards continue on Tuesday, Nov. 11, when the League will unveil the 2008 MLS Coach of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year Award. The finalists for Coach of the Year include the Houston Dynamo's Dominic Kinnear, Columbus Crew's Sigi Schmid and San Jose Earthquakes' Frank Yallop. Each finalist has won the award once before and is vying to become only the second two-time winner (Bob Bradley 1998 & 2006).

The Newcomer of the Year award recognizes a first-year MLS player with previous professional experience that has made a significant positive impact for their team and who is not eligible for Rookie of the Year honors. The finalists for Newcomer of the Year are San Jose Earthquakes forward Darren Huckerby, Kansas City Wizards forward Claudio Lopez and FC Dallas midfielder Andre Rocha.

The complete list of awards finalists and announcement schedule can be found here.

MLS Cup Playoffs Information & MLS Cup Media Schedule

MLS Cup Playoffs and MLS Cup 2008 information including the complete playoff guide, MLS Cup Playoffs logos and the MLS Cup Media Schedule are available on the League's media site at http://media.mlsnet.com. If you do not have media site log in information please contact MLS Communications at 212-450-1227 or email communications@mlsnet.com

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Major League Soccer Stories from November 10, 2008


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