Major League Soccer Playoff Matchups Set: Columbus v RSL, NE v Chicago, Chivas v Galaxy, and Seattle v Houston
The Major League Soccer 2009 regular season finished on Sunday, October 25, 2009. The playoff match-ups are now set with Columbus, Salt Lake, New England, Chivas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Houston qualifying. The Los Angeles Galaxy are the top seed in the Western Conference and will have home field advantage through the Conference Finals. The Columbus Crew are the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the second straight season and won the MLS Supporter’s Shield for the club with the most points in the regular season.
Here’s a list of the match-ups for the first round (conference semifinals) of the Major League Soccer 2009 season. Match times and TV listings will be available on Monday.
Major League Soccer 2009 Playoff Matchups
West:
4 Chivas USA
1 LA Galaxy
3 Sounders FC
2 Houston
East:
4 Real Salt Lake
1 Columbus
3 New England
2 Chicago Fire
Final Regular Season Standings
| Club | Pts | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus Crew (E1) | 49 | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 31 | +10 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Galaxy (W1) | 48 | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 36 | 31 | +5 |
| 3 | Houston Dynamo (W2) | 48 | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 39 | 29 | +10 |
| 4 | Seattle Sounders FC2 | 47 | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 38 | 29 | +9 |
| 5 | Chicago Fire (E2) | 45 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 39 | 34 | +5 |
| 6 | Chivas USA | 45 | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 34 | 31 | +3 |
| 7 | New England Revolution | 42 | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 33 | 37 | −4 |
| 8 | Real Salt Lake | 40 | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 43 | 35 | +8 |
| 9 | Colorado Rapids | 40 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 42 | 38 | +4 |
| 10 | D.C. United | 40 | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 43 | 44 | −1 |
| 11 | FC Dallas | 39 | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 50 | 46 | +4 |
| 12 | Toronto FC1 | 39 | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 37 | 46 | −9 |
| 13 | Kansas City Wizards | 33 | 30 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 33 | 42 | −9 |
| 14 | San Jose Earthquakes | 30 | 30 | 7 | 14 | 9 | 36 | 50 | −14 |
| 15 | New York Red Bulls | 21 | 30 | 5 | 19 | 6 | 27 | 47 | −20 |
| MLS Supporters’ Shield, 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2010 U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League 2010–112 | |
| 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2010 U.S. Open Cup | |
| 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs |
- ^Note 1 – Toronto FC cannot qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, as it is a Canadian-based team. If they qualify for an automatic berth into the U.S. Open Cup, the next highest placed team not already qualified will be given a berth. Similarly, they cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS. Rather, they can qualify through the Canadian Soccer Championship. If they qualify for the Champions League through MLS, then the highest placed team not already qualified will qualify.
- ^Note 2 – Additional Champions League berths will be awarded to the winner and runner-up of MLS Cup 2009.
The winner of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup (Seattle) also qualifies.
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little new to this format – if the top 8 teams can come from either conference then why not use a 1-8 ranking for matchups – I mean RSL is not eastern so why are we pretending it is for the playoffs – not to mention that this way higher rank teams are pitted earlier on – no other sport does this – why MLS?
In my view L.A & Seatle are the best teams in the MLS period
Its to bad they can not meet in the finals.