This Week in MLS
Published on October 25, 2011 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
MLS Cup Playoffs match schedule
(Home team listed first; all times Eastern)
WILD CARD MATCHES
Wednesday, October 26
FC Dallas vs. New York Red Bulls, 9 p.m. (FOX Soccer*, TSN2)
Thursday, October 27
Colorado Rapids vs. Columbus Crew, 10 p.m. (Direct Kick, TSN2, Altitude, MLSsoccer.com [except in Denver area])
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Saturday, October 29
TBD - FC Dallas* vs. Sporting Kansas City 7:30 p.m. ET (FOX Soccer, TSN)
Real Salt Lake vs. Seattle Sounders FC, 10 p.m. ET (FOX Soccer, TSN2)
Sunday, October 30
Philadelphia Union vs. Houston Dynamo - Sun., Oct. 30, time TBD, (ESPN2, Deportes, ESPN3)
TBD - Colorado Rapids* / Columbus Crew* vs. Sporting Kansas City - Sun., Oct. 30 7 p.m. ET (FOX Soccer, TSN2)
TBD - Colorado Rapids* / Columbus Crew* / New York Red Bulls* vs. LA Galaxy, time TBD (ESPN or ESPN2, Deportes, ESPN3, TSN2)
* Schedule TBD based on which two teams advance from Wild Card Matches. The lower-seeded survivor faces the LA Galaxy; the other team will play Sporting Kansas City in the Conference Semifinals.
Quotables
"We're in, that's all that counts. This game means so much after such a rough season."
-- New York Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe after his team secured the final playoff spot with a 1-0 win against Philadelphia
"He showed frustration at times, but he always backed his teammates. He's not a greedy goal scorer."
-- San Jose Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop on Chris Wondolowski, who tied for the league goalscoring lead after winning the MLS Golden Boot last year
"If you don't play the way the coaching staff demands, the way the owner wants the team to fight for every game, then you're not going to be here for very long. I ain't going to be here if I let my team come in here and get beat 4-nil."
-- Portland Timbers coach John Spencer, after his team tied Real Salt Lake in the last minute
"When you're 38 yards out and you hit a ball so hard that Donovan Ricketts - who's one of the best shot-stoppers in the league - doesn't dive for it, it's a special goal."
-- Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall on teammate Adam Moffat's long-range strike vs. LA
"The guys in the locker room know that they're not done. They want to make more noise than they have in the past and they want to come back here on November 20th."
-- Seattle Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid his team's 3-1 win against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center
Sweet Tweets
@wingert17 (Chris Wingert) - October 19
did you guys see the portland vs. DC game tonight''' one of the craziest finishes i have seen in a long time
@SteveDavis90 - October 20
Still don't like 56 percent MLS making playoffs. That said, I'll remember last night's final, frenetic, outrageous 15 mins for a long time
@kylemartino - October 21
@FOXSoccer wins World Cup for 2018 & 2022. Exciting news for our Fox family. Big things on the horizon. Well done.
@downthebyline - October 23
stat to remember now that #SportingKC has clinched the one seed, KC has not lost a home playoff game since 97 haven't won away since 96
According to the Elias Sports Bureau: MLS Cup Playoffs produce tight affairs
With history as an indicator, this week's MLS Wild Card playoff games could be tense, defensive battles, partly because three of the league's four most shot-resistant clubs are involved. FC Dallas allowed the fewest shots in MLS this season (10.4 per game), Colorado ranked second (10.9), and New York fourth (11.4). Columbus ranked 12th, allowing 13.2 shots per game.
More significantly, elimination playoff matches have traditionally produced low-scoring contests. There have been only 2.2 goals per MLS elimination game, which is 16 percent lower than scoring in other playoff matches (2.6). To underline the close nature of these win-or-go-home affairs, consider that no team in the past six seasons has taken a two-goal lead in the first half of any of the 18 elimination games, and only one did so before the 70-minute mark.
Major League Soccer Stories from October 25, 2011
- Timbers Weekly Update - Portland Timbers
- Sounders FC to Host Viewing Parties for Playoff Match - Seattle Sounders FC
- This Week in MLS - MLS
- Chivas USA Announces 2011 Team Awards - Club Deportivo Chivas USA
- Chicago Fire Close out Season with Impressive Run - Chicago Fire FC
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.
