2014 MLS Cup playoffs

2014 MLS Cup Playoffs
Tournament details
CountryUnited States
Canada
Teams10
Defending championsSporting Kansas City
Final positions
ChampionsLA Galaxy (5th title)
Runners-upNew England Revolution
Semifinalists
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Goals scored42 (2.8 per match)
Attendance354,455 (23,630 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)United States Charlie Davies
England Bradley Wright-Phillips
(4 goals each)

The 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs presented by AT&T for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began in late October and culminated on December 7, 2014 with MLS Cup 2014, the nineteenth league championship for MLS.

The 2014 playoffs was the first time that the away goals rule was applied to the home-and-away, aggregate-goal series.[1] The first series impacted by the rule was a Western Conference semifinal that saw Seattle Sounders FC advance past FC Dallas when the first match (held in Dallas) ended 1–1 and the second (held in Seattle) ended 0–0.[2]

LA Galaxy defeated New England Revolution 2–1 after extra time in the MLS Cup 2014 for their record-breaking fifth MLS Cup title, thus earning a spot in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League.

Sporting Kansas City were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round by New York Red Bulls.

Format

The top five teams from both the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference qualified and are seeded in the MLS Playoffs to determine conference champions. The two conference champions will face off in the MLS Cup.

Knockout round

The fourth and fifth seeds in each conference play a single match hosted by the fourth seed, with the winner advancing to the conference semifinals.[3]

Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals

In the conference semifinals, the team with the best record in each conference plays the winner of their conference knockout round match while the second and third-seeded teams in each conference play one another. The teams winning the conference semifinal matches advance to their respective conference finals.

In these two rounds, all matches are played in a home-and-away aggregate-goal format, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. The first leg lasts the usual 90 minutes and can end in a tie. In the second leg, if the two teams are tied after 90 minutes (180 minutes total) then the team that scored more goals away from home advances to the next round.

If there is still a tie after the away goals rule is applied, a 30-minute overtime period (divided into two 15-minute periods) is played followed by a penalty kick shootout, if necessary. The away goals rule does not apply to goals scored in the overtime period.[3]

MLS Cup

The two conference champions face each other in the MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the team with the better regular season record.[3]

Qualification

Qualification for the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs was based on the results of the 2014 Regular Season. The five teams from each conference with the highest point totals were seeded into their conference playoff bracket.

The 2014 regular season ran from March 8, 2014 to October 26, 2014. Teams played 34 games total, 17 at home and 17 away and were awarded three points for a win, one point for a tie (draw), and zero points for a loss. When two or more teams have the same point totals, the following tiebreak rules were applied:[3][4]

  1. Total number of wins
  2. Goal Differential
  3. Goals For
  4. Fewest Disciplinary Points in the official points table
  5. Road Goals Differential
  6. Road Goal For
  7. Home Goals Differential
  8. Home Goal For
  9. Coin Toss (2 clubs) or Drawing of Lots (3 or more)

Eastern Conference Table

PosTeam
PldWLTGFGAGDPtsQualification
1D.C. United3417985237+1559MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2New England Revolution34171345137+1455
3Columbus Crew SC341410105242+1052
4New York Red Bulls341310115550+550MLS Cup Knockout round
5Sporting Kansas City34141374841+749
6Philadelphia Union341012125151042
7Toronto FC34111584454−1041
8Houston Dynamo34111763958−1939
9Chicago Fire34610184151−1036
10Montreal Impact34618103858−2028
Source: MLS

Western Conference Table

PosTeam
PldWLTGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Seattle Sounders FC34201046550+1564MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2LA Galaxy34177106937+3261
3Real Salt Lake34158115439+1556
4FC Dallas34161265545+1054MLS Cup Knockout round
5Vancouver Whitecaps FC34128144240+250
6Portland Timbers34129136152+949
7Chivas USA3491962961−3233
8Colorado Rapids3481884362−1932
9San Jose Earthquakes34616123550−1530
Source: MLS

Bracket

KnockoutConference semifinalsConference finalsMLS Cup
E1D.C. United022
E4New York Red Bulls2E4New York Red Bulls213
E5Sporting Kansas City1Eastern ConferenceE4New York Red Bulls123
E2New England Revolution224
E2New England Revolution437
E3Columbus Crew213
E2New England Revolution1
W2LA Galaxy (a.e.t.)2
W1Seattle Sounders FC (a)101
W4FC Dallas2W4FC Dallas101
W5Vancouver Whitecaps FC1Western ConferenceW1Seattle Sounders FC022
W2LA Galaxy (a)112
W2LA Galaxy055
W3Real Salt Lake000


Schedule

Knockout round

Eastern Conference

New York Red Bulls2–1Sporting Kansas City
Wright-Phillips 77', 90'ReportDwyer 53'
Attendance: 15,518
Referee: Armando Villarreal

Western Conference

FC Dallas2–1Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Akindele 40'
Michel 84' (pen.)		ReportHurtado 64'
Attendance: 10,279
Referee: Mark Geiger

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

Columbus Crew2–4New England Revolution
Meram 64'
Higuaín 90+4' (pen.)		ReportDavies 34', 78'
Tierney 51'
Nguyen 70'
Attendance: 9,040
Referee: Drew Fischer
New England Revolution3–1Columbus Crew
Nguyen 43'
Gonçalves 55'
Bunbury 77'		ReportTchani 69'
Attendance: 20,184
Referee: Armando Villarreal

New England Revolution won 7–3 on aggregate

New York Red Bulls2–0D.C. United
Wright-Phillips 40'
Luyindula 73'		Report
Attendance: 18,054
D.C. United2–1New York Red Bulls
DeLeon 37'
Franklin 90+1'		ReportLuyindula 57'
Attendance: 20,187
Referee: Ismail Elfath

New York Red Bulls advanced 3–2 on aggregate

Western Conference

Real Salt Lake0–0LA Galaxy
Report
Attendance: 20,713
LA Galaxy5–0Real Salt Lake
Donovan 10', 54', 72'
Keane 20'
Sarvas 63'		Report
Attendance: 27,000
Referee: Jair Marrufo

Los Angeles Galaxy advanced 5–0 on aggregate

FC Dallas1–1Seattle Sounders FC
Michel 34' (pen.)ReportAlonso 54'
Attendance: 16,112
Referee: Allen Chapman
Seattle Sounders FC0–0FC Dallas
Report
Attendance: 38,912
Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Seattle Sounders FC advanced on an away goal

Conference finals

New York Red Bulls1–2New England Revolution
Wright-Phillips 27'ReportBunbury 17'
Jones 85'
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Allen Chapman
New England Revolution2–2New York Red Bulls
Davies 41', 70'ReportCahill 26'
Luyindula 52'
Attendance: 32,698
Referee: Baldomero Toledo

New England Revolution advanced 4–3 on aggregate

LA Galaxy1–0Seattle Sounders FC
Sarvas 52'Report
Attendance: 27,000
Referee: Kevin Stott
Seattle Sounders FC2–1LA Galaxy
Evans 26'
Dempsey 32'		ReportJuninho 54'
Attendance: 46,758
Referee: Jair Marrufo

Los Angeles Galaxy advanced on an away goal

MLS Cup

LA Galaxy2–1 (a.e.t.)New England Revolution
Zardes 52'
Keane 111'		ReportTierney 79'
Attendance: 27,000
Referee: Mark Geiger

Goalscorers

RankPlayerClubGoals[6]
1United States Charlie DaviesNew England Revolution4
England Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red Bulls
3United States Landon DonovanLA Galaxy3
France Péguy LuyindulaNew York Red Bulls
5United States Teal BunburyNew England Revolution2
Republic of Ireland Robbie KeaneLA Galaxy
United States Lee NguyenNew England Revolution
Brazil MichelFC Dallas
Brazil Marcelo SarvasLA Galaxy
United States Chris TierneyNew England Revolution
11Canada Tesho AkindeleFC Dallas1
Cuba Osvaldo AlonsoSeattle Sounders FC
Australia Tim CahillNew York Red Bulls
United States Nick DeLeonD.C. United
United States Clint DempseySeattle Sounders FC
England Dom DwyerSporting Kansas City
United States Brad EvansSeattle Sounders FC
United States Sean FranklinD.C. United
Portugal José GonçalvesNew England Revolution
Argentina Federico HiguaínColumbus Crew
United States Erik HurtadoVancouver Whitecaps FC
United States Jermaine JonesNew England Revolution
Brazil JuninhoLA Galaxy
Iraq Justin MeramColumbus Crew
Cameroon Tony TchaniColumbus Crew
United States Gyasi ZardesLA Galaxy

See also

References

  1. ^ "Major League Soccer to introduce away-goals rule for first time in 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs". Major League Soccer. March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  2. ^ Itel, Dan (November 10, 2014). "Seattle Sounders 0, FC Dallas 0 - MLS Cup Playoffs Match Recap". Major League Soccer. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d "Competition Rules and Regulations". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  4. ^ Bonn, Kyle (March 7, 2014). "MLS releases new playoff tiebreakers and salary regulations". NBC Sports ProSoccerTalk. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d "MLS 2014 Playoff Schedule". Major League Soccer. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  6. ^ "Major League Soccer Stats: Top Goal Scorers – 2014". ESPN FC. ESPN. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
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