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The U.S. players had a lot to celebrate Saturday night
- Ricardo Clark's game-winner in the 97th minute marks the latest goal scored in the second half
by the United States in team history.
- Jurgen Klinsmann has collected back-to-back victories for the first time since becoming head
coach last summer, following the 3-2 win against Slovenia on Nov.
Changes were bound to happen when Major League Soccer added a 19th club for the 2012 season.
With an odd number of teams and a desire to reduce some of the travel for some clubs, the balanced
schedule was going to go out the window for a while and changes were going to have to be made to
the format.
The NCAA men's soccer post-season is well underway as the top conferences across the country
prepare to crown champions ahead of the upcoming NCAA Tournament draw.
The power conferences provide the big showcases today, as the ACC, Big EAST and Big Ten hold
conference semifinals today.
Seattle Sounders Academy alumni Nick Palodichuk and Sean Okoli each performed well in their
freshmen years of college both gaining individual recognition by their conference. Palodichuk, with
Duke, is surrounded by talent (Andrew Wenger will be #1 pick in MLS Draft if signed). The Blue
Devil's are 22nd by RPI holding a 10-6-2 record, and advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference
semifinals.
Red Bulls Fans May Have a Euro 2012 Rooting Interest After AllThe 2011 MLS Cup final
participants are now set following yesterday's conference finals, and for the first time in a
number of years none of the lowest playoff seeds made it through to the championship. Whether
that's the result of a slightly more equitable playoff format that punished poor regular season
performance is anyone's guess.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
With their MLS seasons over after losses in the conference semifinals on Thursday, a handful of
up-and-coming players in the U.S. Under-23 and Under-20 pools will get their chance to make their
mark ahead of this spring's Olympic qualifiers.
The playoffs are rolling on so Ted and Chris are back to wrap up the Conference Semifinals and
get us ready for the Conference Finals this weekend. CSRN MEDIA PLAYER
Sporting Kansas City hosted the Colorado Rapids on a rain-soaked pitch the second leg in the
Eastern Conference Semifinals. The home team did exactly what they needed to do in order to
preserve their 2-0 lead from the first leg and added two insurance goals on set pieces. Colorado
had a few promising moments but were unable to put any kind of sustained pressure on their
opponents.
Lots of surprises from the first legs of the conference semifinals as Houston, Real Salt Lake,
Sporting KC and LA all put themselves in the pole position heading in to the second leg. We're here
to discuss all the news and preview this week's matches. On the phone are correspondents from
Houston, Philly, Kansas City, Colorado, Salt Lake, Seattle, New York and Los Angeles.
- Rebuilt Dynamo bearing fruit for Kinnear [Houston Chronicle]
- SKC and Houston poised to advance [ESPN]
- Dynamo determined to keep all guns blazing [MLS Soccer]
- Dynamo know they must remain aggressive in home match against Union [Houston Chronicle]
- MLS Conference Semifinals: A Look Ahead [Soccer by Ives]
- 'D' capital for Dynamo during unbeaten streak [Houston Chronicle]
- Ching enjoys being part of deep forward corps [MLS Soccer]
- Dynamo assistant Ralston a candidate for Revolution job [Houston Chronicle]
- Academy Roundup - October 30 [Houston Dynamo]
In Other News:
- Sounders FC faces daunting task of winning by four goals [Seattle Times]
- Sigi Schmid Wants To Give Seattle An Epic Tale [Sounder at Heart]
- Donovan says Galaxy 'assuming' Beckham will stay [Sports Illustrated]
- MLS gauging interest in club playing in Baltimore [Washington Post]
- Tributes paid to Doncaster's Billy Sharp after baby tragedy [BBC]
Photo: Nicolae Stoian
Injury report
PHILADELPHIA UNION OUT: GK Thorne Holder (concussion); FW Levi Houapeu (L ankle
strain); QUESTIONABLE: MF Michael Farfan (R foot contusion); FW Veljko Paunovic (R hamstring
strain); PROBABLE: MF Justin Mapp (L quad strain)
HOUSTON DYNAMO OUT: FW Cam Weaver (R hip)
The Union are hopeful Paunovic will be ready to go on Thursday.
On the eve of the second leg of the conference semifinals, the league has stirred some intrigue
around one of its teams not in the playoffs. According to Steven Goff of The Washington Post,
soccer fans in the Baltimore, MD ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
Sporting KC are back to business with a quick turnaround as they take on the Colorado Rapids in the
second leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park tomorrow. It'll
be interesting to see how Colorado comes out for this game. Three players that started the game in
Colorado are now done for the season, Drew Moor, Caleb Folan, and Kosuke Kimura all left the game
with injuries.
Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
The first legs of the conference semifinals over the weekend created four very unenviable hills
to climb.
The Los Angeles Galaxy, the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City all head home to protect
leads while Real Salt Lake, the only winning team taking to the road, has the comfort of a
three-goal cushion.
A single goal set up by David Beckham and slammed home by Mike Magee saw the Los Angeles Galaxy
overcome the New York Red Bulls in the first round of the two leg conference semifinals. The
conditions at the stadium were very cold (the East Coast just had their snow storm) but the match
ended up being quite fiery.
There's no good way of putting this: The Seattle Sounders are in a ridiculously deep hole right
now. How deep? Since Major League Soccer went to its current playoff format in 2003, no team has
ever trailed by three goals and only seven teams have trailed by two after the first leg. Heck,
only eight teams have ever trailed by three goals at any point in the entire two-legged conference
semifinals.
Three of four lower seeds in the MLS conference playoff semifinals suffered home losses, leaving
most of higher seeds in total control heading into the second leg rematches at mid-week. While that
may not bode well for seeing a true upset in the conference semifinals for the first time in a good
while (unless you think RSL beating Seattle is actually an upset), we still might see some
surprises.
By JOSÉ M. ROMERO
Much was made of Real Salt Lake's regular season-ending six-match winless streak and how it
might be a sign that RSL is in trouble heading into the playoffs.
On Saturday night, Real Salt Lake put that notion to rest in emphatic fashion.
Two of the top three teams in Major League Soccer during the regular season square off in the
opening match of the MLS conference semifinals (10pm, Fox Soccer Channel).
The No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake will look to win at Rio Tinto Stadium
in game one of the two-game series to put pressure on the No.
Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
When it comes to MLS playoff predictions, there's one thing that the SBI staff can agree on --
the 2011 MLS Cup winner will come from the Western Conference.
Which team ends up getting the job done is another story.
After sampling six SBI MLS writers, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake
are the three prime candidates to lift the MLS Cup trophy at the Home Depot Center on Nov.
The Seattle Sounders enter the MLS playoffs as one of the league's hottest teams, but in order
to find success in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals, they'll have to do so
without their midfield maestro.
Mauro Rosales has been ruled out of the first leg of the Sounders' series against Real Salt
Lake, according to the Seattle Times.
Jermaine Jones squares off against Fabian Johnson and Danny Williams this weekend
This weekend's fixture list has lined up a few meetings between fellow U.S. internationals,
including the all-important playoff variety.
Saturday, Oct. 29
Jermaine Jones vs. Fabian Johnson and Danny Williams (Schalke-Hoffenheim): A big match for both
sides as only two points separate them in the table, Schalke sitting in third place and Hoffenheim
five below.
The Colorado Rapids flew under the radar last season en route to capturing their first MLS Cup
championship.
Despite holding that distinction, the Rapids find themselves in a similar position in 2011. The
defending champions are again quietly still very much alive after defeating the Columbus Crew in
Thursday night's wild card match to advance into the Eastern Conference bracket.
So as not to be an over-complainer (the world has enough of those, no?), I'm trying hard to find
things I like about Major League Soccer's new playoff structure.
Well, here's one:
I haven't seen a bunch of talk about how an extra playoff game for the wild-card qualifiers
would affect discipline matters.
By AVI CREDITOR
The Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew have taken different roads to get to this point, but
ultimately they're right back where they were a year ago.
Colorado eliminated Columbus in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season en route to
capturing its first MLS Cup.
The first two games of the MLS postseason are set for Wednesday and Thursday night, with the new
wild card format meaning that for two teams it's win and advance, and for two others it's lose and
go home.
New York and Dallas open the MLS playoffs Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Park in a meeting of two
teams that had serious title aspirations entering the season.
Interesting that only one playoff game is not on national TV in the US. Probably a wise pick by
the league if you ask me.
Here they are (home team listed first):
Wild Card
- FC Dallas vs. New York Red Bulls – Wed., Oct. 26, 9 p.m. ET (FOX Soccer, TSN2)
- Colorado Rapids vs.
If you haven't rode a roller coaster at any point in your life, you likely can't truly
appreciate the 2011 Dynamo season. All the thrills and exhilaration has been there, those stomach
lurching moments as well, it's been both fun and maddeningly frustrating all at the same time. In
the end, the depth of the journey certainly leads to the end result being even more fulfilling.
With their win over LA tonight, the Houston Dynamo finalized the playoff seedings. With that we
have a better idea now of who the Wizards will face in the conference semifinals. Of the four wild
card teams, Dallas is the 7th seed, Colorado 8th, Columbus 9th, and New York 10th. KC will play the
highest of the remaining wildcard teams after the wild card round.
Thirty-two weeks are in the books. Each team has played 34 regular season games and now we are
down to ten teams competing for one prize the MLS Cup.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1. L.A. Galaxy (19-5-10, 67 points)
2. Sounders FC (18-7-9, 63 points)
3. Real Salt Lake (15-11-8, 53 points)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1.
The Seattle Sounders had two main goals when they paid Chivas USA a visit on Saturday with
nothing to play for standings-wise: work Mauro Rosales back into the lineup and get out healthy.
Somewhere else in the list of priorities was finally beating Chivas USA at Home Depot Center and
heading into the playoffs on a roll.
Photo by Don Feria/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
Well, the New York Red Bulls sure took the drama out of this weekend.
With New York's 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on Thursday, the 10th and final ticket to
the postseason was booked, and the Portland Timbers and Chicago Fire were eliminated from playoff
contention.
The 2011 MLS Cup Playoff Schedule
Wild Card Games - hosted by higher seed; single elimination
(Currently New York Red Bulls at FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo at Colorado Rapids)
Wednesday, Oct. 26 & Thursday, Oct. 27
Conference Semifinals, First Leg - hosted by lower seed
(Currently LA Galaxy at lowest remaining wild card; Sporting Kansas City at other remaining wild
card; Seattle Sounders at Real Salt Lake; and Philadelphia Union at Columbus Crew)
Saturday, Oct.
Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
The MLS playoff race sure is heating up.
With just a handful of matches remaining, nine teams are still competing for six available
postseason berths. A slate of influential weekend fixtures kicks off Friday with a critical clash
in the wild-card race between the Houston Dynamo and Portland Timbers.
James Grossi covers MLS with a focus on the Eastern Conference for
TSG
The Preamble
MVP candidate Dominic Oduro has le....wait Dominic Oduro! Yes, MVP candidate Dominic Oduro has
led the Fire to the cusp of the playoffs....
A cursory glance at the MLS standings could give the impression that there is an imbalance of
power between the Western and Eastern Conferences.
Photo by Wendy Larsen/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
While the Texas derby between FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo is an intense affair in its own
right, the playoff implications surrounding Saturday's showdown have added a little more spice to
the rivalry.
The Major League Soccer playoff picture is slowly coming into focus as we head towards the
stretch run. I thought it would be interesting to see how things would stack up using each team's
points per game, instead of total points. The idea is to get a clearer picture of a team's form
over the course of the season.
The Major League Soccer playoff picture is slowly coming into focus as we head towards the
stretch run. I thought it would be interesting to see how things would stack up using each team's
points per game, instead of total points. The idea is to get a clearer picture of a team's form
over the course of the season.
The Major League Soccer playoff picture is slowly coming into focus as we head towards the
stretch run. I thought it would be interesting to see how things would stack up using each team's
points per game, instead of total points. The idea is to get a clearer picture of a team's form
over the course of the season.
With the playoffs set for nearly two months away, Major League Soccer has revealed it's list of
dates for each round in the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The road to the League's 16th championship consists of 13 total games, with a break for FIFA
fixture dates (Nov. 11 & 15) between the conference championships and MLS Cup.
