MLS Major League Soccer

Thirteen Teams Vie for Seven Playoff Spots In October

Published on September 29, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


MLS Cup Playoffs Only Four Weeks Away; New England Could Clinch This Weekend

With four weeks remaining in the MLS regular season, teams are clawing for points to reach the postseason while Columbus sets its eyes on the Supporters' Shield trophy. After its impressive 1-0 road victory over New England on Saturday, the Crew could claim the Supporters' Shield this weekend with a victory and help from other results.

Columbus will win the Supporters' Shield this week IF:

- The Crew defeat LA Galaxy on Saturday AND

- New England fails to win against Real Salt Lake on Saturday AND

- Houston loses to Colorado on Saturday AND

- Chicago fails to win against Kansas City on Sunday.

The standings shifted slightly from Week 27, as Real Salt Lake overtook D.C. United for the second wild card spot. Although RSL is tied with Colorado in points, and in the head-to-head tiebreaker, they rank behind the Rapids in goal differential, the second tiebreaker.

New England could become the second team to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs with a victory and some help from other teams. The breakdown for the Revolution to clinch an automatic berth in the Eastern Conference is below:

New England will clinch an automatic berth in the Eastern Conference this week IF:

- New England defeats Real Salt Lake on Saturday (NE = 45 pts) AND

- United fails to win against Chivas USA on Saturday (DC max pts after a draw = 43 pts) AND

- New York loses to Toronto FC on Saturday (NY max pts after loss = 44 pts)

o A NY draw w/TOR leaves NE unclinched because NY could still make up the GD in its last three games

Since KC and TOR (max pts 44 and 40, respectively) could not catch NE if the Revs win, NE clinches one of the top three spots in the East given the three results above.

For complete playoff qualification guidelines and tiebreakers click here. The MLS Cup Playoffs begin Oct. 30.

2008 MLS STANDINGS

INCLUDES GAMES OF SUNDAY, September 28, 2008

---------- OVERALL ----------- ---- HOME ---- ---- ROAD ----

GP W L T PTS GF GA GD W L T GF GA W L T GF GA

*Columbus (1) 26 15 6 5 50 45 31 14 9 2 2 28 15 6 4 3 17 16

New England (2) 26 12 8 6 42 36 35 1 6 4 3 21 15 6 4 3 15 20

Chicago (3) 26 12 9 5 41 34 25 9 6 5 2 16 13 6 4 3 18 12

New York (x) 26 9 9 8 35 35 38 -3 8 2 3 26 16 1 7 5 9 22

D.C. United 26 10 13 3 33 41 46 -5 8 3 2 30 15 2 10 1 11 31

Kansas City 26 8 10 8 32 29 35 -6 7 2 3 17 12 1 8 5 12 23

Toronto FC 26 7 12 7 28 26 36 -10 5 2 7 14 10 2 10 0 12 26

---------- OVERALL ----------- ---- HOME ---- ---- ROAD ----

GP W L T PTS GF GA GD W L T GF GA W L T GF GA

Houston (1) 25 10 5 10 40 36 29 7 8 1 3 25 13 2 4 7 11 16

Chivas USA (2) 26 10 10 6 36 34 38 -4 7 3 3 19 12 3 7 3 15 26

Colorado (3) 26 10 12 4 34 38 37 1 7 4 2 20 10 3 8 2 18 27

Real Salt Lake (y) 26 9 10 7 34 33 34 -1 7 1 5 20 8 2 9 2 13 26

FC Dallas 26 8 9 9 33 39 33 6 5 4 4 20 16 3 5 5 19 17

Los Angeles 26 7 11 8 29 50 54 -4 5 4 4 30 23 2 7 4 20 31

San Jose 25 7 10 8 29 26 31 -5 5 4 4 20 18 2 6 4 6 13

* Clinched a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs

(1,2 or 3) - Currently occupying an automatic playoff berth

x - New York currently holds the first wildcard and the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference

y - Real Salt Lake currently holds the second wildcard and the fourth seed in the Western Conference. RSL currently trail Colorado based on goal differential. The teams are tied in the first tiebreaker, head-to-head, at 1-1-0 so far this season.

Highlighted teams are currently not occupying playoff spots.

MLS Week 28: Oct. 2-5, 2008

(All times Eastern)

Thursday, October 2

San Jose Earthquakes at FC Dallas, 9:00 p.m. (ESPN2, Deportes)

- With a game in hand on its fellow playoff hopefuls, San Jose does not face elimination in this match, but a loss would be traumatic to the club's playoff hopes.

- FC Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham has five goals and two assists in seven games since arriving via trade with Toronto FC. Cunningham has scored 10 of his 104 career goals against San Jose.

- Earthquakes attacker Arturo Alvarez pays his first visit to Frisco since being traded by FC Dallas in late July.

- The teams' only other meeting this season was a scoreless draw on May 3 in the first game played at the Earthquakes' temporary home, Buck Shaw Stadium.

Saturday, October 4

Chivas USA at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. (FSC, FSE)

Separated by just three points, D.C. United (33 points) are currently chasing the playoff field while Chivas USA (36 points) occupy second place in the Western Conference. History is on D.C. United's side; they hold a 5-1-1 all-time record against Chivas USA. Sasha Victorine, acquired at the trade deadline, is showing his value as he had a hand in both goals in Chivas USA's 2-1 victory over his former club Kansas City. He scored what proved to be the game winner on a rocket shot from 20-yards that curled into the upper right corner of the goal. - During 2007 and 2008, Chivas USA forward Alecko Eskandarian has scored five goals in nine games against his former employers -- one against D.C. United and one against Toronto FC last season and two against Real Salt Lake and one against Toronto FC this season.

LA Galaxy at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (HDNet)

The Crew lead the all-time series versus the Galaxy 13-9-7 and have lost only once in their last nine meetings. Current Galaxy forward Edson Buddle is the Crew's all-time leading scorer against LA with five goals against the Galaxy. He scored 42 goals in five seasons as a member of the Crew. With 111 MLS career coaching wins Crew head coach Sigi Schmid has recorded the second most wins in League history. He recorded 79 wins as head coach of the Galaxy from 1999 to 2004. LA forward Landon Donovan could become only the second player in five seasons to reach the 20-goal mark. Luciano Emilio notched 20 goals in 2007, becoming the first player to do so since 2002.

Real Salt Lake at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

Real Salt Lake cooled down the red hot Earthquakes last week with a 3-2 road victory - only the second road win for RSL this season. The Revolution hold a slight edge at 3-2-2 in the all-time series, although RSL won the only meeting this season 2-1 on June 21 at Rice Eccles Stadium their first win ever at home against New England. Real have not lost in their last two trips to Foxborough. Matt Reis will be looking for his 12th win of the season; he's recorded 12 or more wins in the past three seasons. While New England's 6-4-3 road record is tied for the best in MLS (along with Columbus and Chicago), they have the identical record at home - the 10th-best out of 14 teams.

Toronto FC at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

The teams are meeting for the third time this season, the second in little more than a month at Giants Stadium. They played to a 1-1 draw May 1 in Toronto. New York won 2-0 on Aug. 17. The Red Bulls have yet to allow a goal to Toronto at Giants Stadium, scoring five goals in winning both previous meetings at the Meadowlands. The game in New York will be the first of back-to-back away games for TFC, which has three of its final four games on the road. With two wins in 12 games away from BMO Field, the Reds have the worst road record in MLS. Juan Pablo Angel has scored goals in three consecutive games, the second time in as many months he's scored in three games in a row, also doing Aug. 10-24. Since returning to the lineup on July 10, the Colombian international has scored nine goals in 11 games. Toronto gets defender Marco Velez back from a two-game suspension and he'll be needed against the Red Bulls' potent attack that includes Juan Pablo Angel, Dane Richards and newly-acquired speedsters Matthew Mbuta and Macoumba Kandji.

Houston Dynamo at Colorado Rapids, 9:30 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

The Rapids are undefeated in four straight with three wins and one tie. They tied a club record in a 5-4 victory over New York last weekend; Colorado's only other five-goal game was a 5-2 win against the New England Revolution on May 22, 2002. Conor Casey tied the Rapids club record with three goals, becoming the fourth player in club history to score a hat trick, joining John Spencer (2001), Chris Carrieri (2002) and Jeff Cunningham (2005). After completing a four-game run in four different countries on Tuesday against Pumas UNAM in Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions League, the Dynamo return home for five consecutive games at Robertson Stadium beginning with the Colorado match, three in MLS play and two in the CCL.

Sunday, October 5

Chicago Fire at Kansas City Wizards, 3:00 p.m. (TeleFutura)

The Fire have yet to score against the Wizards this season. Kansas City took a 1-0 victory on April 20 at Toyota Park - just the second road victory ever for the Wizards against the Fire - then the teams played to a scoreless draw July 27 in Kansas City. When the Fire scored three goals last Thursday evening against the Galaxy, it was the first time they'd scored more than two goals in a game since May 25, when they defeated New York 5-1 at Giants Stadium, a span of 17 games. The Wizards last lost at home on June 14, 5-0-2 in the seven games since. The game against Chicago starts a three-game homestand before Kansas City concludes the regular season on the road.

Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey Wins MLS Player of the Week Award

Conor Casey was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 27 of the 2008 season. Casey recorded a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, in the Rapids' 5-4 road win over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. The win moved the Rapids to 10-12-4 on the season with 34 points.

This is Casey's first Player of the Week honor. He has tallied eight goals this season and ranks among the top 10 goal scorers in MLS. Casey and Rapids are back in action versus the Western Conference leading Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET. For more on Player of the Week honor click here.

The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.

Houston Dynamo and D.C. United Continue CONCACAF Champions League This Week

D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo continue their Group A and Group B matches this week. United has lost twice and sit at the bottom of Group A, while Houston has completed just one group match a tie. The Dynamo sit third with one point in Group B.

This week's CONCACAF Champions League Schedule is as follows. All times are eastern.

30-Sep-08 Pumas UNAM vs. Houston 10 p.m.

Saprissa vs. Marathon 10 pm.

1-Oct-08 DC United vs. Cruz Azul 8 p.m.

Municipal vs. Puerto Rico 10 p.m.

Olimpia vs. Montreal 10 p.m.

Firpo vs. San Francisco 10 p.m.

2-Oct-08 Tauro vs. Santos Laguna 8 p.m.

Atlante vs. Joe Public 10 p.m.

Check out the Major League Soccer Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from September 29, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central